Analysis of organotin compounds by gas chromatography-reactive-flow detection.

The gas chromatographic (GC) reactive-flow detector (RFD) responds strongly to organotin compounds. The system yields over four orders of linearity with a minimum detectable amount of 8 x 10(-16) g Sn/s (at S/N = 2). The RFD's selectivity towards tin over carbon is approximately 2.5 x 10(5) g C/g Sn. The spectral emission includes a surface luminescence centered at 390 nm and a gas-phase luminescence centered at 470 nm. These findings suggest that the GC-RFD could serve as a sensitive and selective tool for the analysis of organotin compounds.