Quantitative analysis of fragrance in selectable one dimensional or two dimensional gas chromatography–mass spectrometry with simultaneous detection of multiple detectors in single injection

• Separation of target analytes in 1D and 2D columns in single injection.
• Thermal-desorption and liquid injection combined in one sequence run.
• Simultaneous detection of target analytes in both dimensions by MS, FID and ODP.
• The validated method shows good linearity, excellent robustness and sensitivity.

A selectable one-dimensional (1D) or two-dimensional (2D) gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) system coupled with flame ionization detector (FID) and olfactory detection port (ODP) was employed in this study to analyze perfume oil and fragrance in shower gel. A split/splitless (SSL) injector and a programmable temperature vaporization (PTV) injector are connected via a 2-way splitter of capillary flow technology (CFT) in this selectable 1D/2D GC–MS/FID/ODP system to facilitate liquid sample injections and thermal desorption (TD) for stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) technique, respectively. The dual-linked injectors set-up enable the use of two different injector ports (one at a time) in single sequence run without having to relocate the 1D capillary column from one inlet to another. Target analytes were separated in 1D GC–MS/FID/ODP and followed by further separation of co-elution mixture from 1D in 2D GC–MS/FID/ODP in single injection without any instrumental reconfiguration. A 1D/2D quantitative analysis method was developed and validated for its repeatability – tR; calculated linear retention indices (LRI); response ratio in both MS and FID signal, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantitation (LOQ), as well as linearity over a concentration range. The method was successfully applied in quantitative analysis of perfume solution at different concentration level (RSD ≤ 0.01%, n = 5) and shower gel spiked with perfume at different dosages (RSD ≤ 0.04%, n = 5) with good recovery (96–103% for SSL injection; 94–107% for stir bar sorptive extraction-thermal desorption (SBSE-TD).