Dissolution of organic samples

With organic materials there are two distinct methodologies, depending on whether the analyte is inorganic or organic. For inorganic analytes the dissolution process generally requires the complete destruction of the organic matrix, and no single approach is universally applicable. Ignition in a high-temperature laboratory furnace is the simplest technique, but it results in the loss of many elements.

Ignition in a sealed oxygen atmosphere is a better approach when dealing with a volatile analyte. Schöniger flask combustion involves a special Erlenmeyer flask to which is added a small volume of a suitable solution (often a dilute sodium carbonate or sodium hydroxide solution) that absorbs and retains the inorganic analytes. The organic sample test portion is either directly applied to a filter paper or loaded into a gelatin capsule, which is then wrapped in a filter paper. The wrapped paper is secured in the platinum gauze clip attached to the flask stopper. The flask is flushed with pure oxygen. The filter paper is ignited, and the stopper is plunged into the flask. The flask is inverted and held securely until the combustion is complete. The flask is then shaken for several minutes. Water or additional absorbing solution is added to the collar to aid in rinsing the flask neck when the stopper is withdrawn.

Combustion in an armoured metal oxygen bomb is another alternative. A small test portion is weighed into a sample cup suspended above a small volume of absorbing solution. An igniter wire lies across the sample. The lid is attached; the bomb is pressurized to 25 atmospheres with pure oxygen; and the sample is ignited electrically. The bomb is then cooled and is shaken periodically. The pressure is then slowly released, and the lid is removed.

In a plasma dry asher the sample remains below about 200 °C (400 °F), while its organic content is destroyed. This technique uses a low-pressure oxygen plasma generated by high-frequency induction coils to remove organic matter from the test portion.

There are also several important wet ashing techniques. Digestion with nitric and sulfuric acid and digestion with nitric and perchloric acid are approaches that are used safely and routinely with some sample types; however, with certain materials there is a severe danger of an explosion. These techniques must be avoided for high-boiling or temperature-resistant organic materials, including fats, oils, greases, and waxes. In general, these procedures, like all wet digestions of organic matter, should be attempted only with small test portions of known material, strictly following well-established procedures designed for the specific sample type.

When organic samples are dissolved for the determination of organic analytes, of course, much milder conditions are employed. Perhaps the simplest, dissolution in water, is sometimes useful for short-chain-length alcohols, aldehydes, anhydrides, ketones, esters, ethers, organic acids, and simple carbohydrates. There are a few general rules concerning organic compound solubilities, although there are many exceptions. A solvent is considered inert in a dissolution if it can be quantitatively distilled or evaporated away from the solute. All others are considered reaction solvents. The compounds in a homologous series tend to show decreasing solubility in inert solvents with increasing molecular weight. Thus, methanol, ethanol, and n-propanol are completely miscible with water; n-butanol and n-pentanol show diminishing solubility; and the longer-chain normal alcohols are all insoluble in aqueous solution. Chain branching tends to moderate this effect. For example, isobutanol is more soluble in water than is n-butanol.

A compound tends to be most soluble in the solvent that it most closely resembles structurally. For example, n-octane is insoluble in water but completely soluble in high-molecular-weight straight-chain alcohols. The presence of two or more hydroxyl groups tends to favour solubility in water.

Polymeric materials, both natural and man-made, present special problems if the analyst wishes to preserve their complex features in solution. Sometimes this can be achieved only by a simultaneous dissolution and derivatization, which preserves some gross structural features. Some polymers, however, can be dissolved and reconstituted intact from solvents. Examples are polyvinyl chloride from dimethylacetamide and polystyrene from methylisobutyl ketone.