Determination of epichlorohydrin and 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol in synthesis of cationic etherifying reagent by headspace gas chromatography

This study demonstrates a headspace gas chromatographic(HS-GC) technique for the determination of residual epichlorohydrin (ECH) and generated 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol (DCP) in synthesis process of 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride (CHTAC). By a weight-based sampling method, coupled with significant dilution in 15.8% sodium sulfate and 0.1% silver nitrate mixed solution rapidly, the sample for HS-GC analysis is prepared. Based on the reaction stoichiometry, the conversion (R) of CHTAC during the synthesis process can be calculated from sampling weight and GC peak area. The results showed that the method has a good measurement precision (RSD < 2.5%) and accuracy (recovery = 101–104%) for the quantification of both ECH and DCP in the process samples. The present method is simple and accurate, which can be used for the efficient determination of the CHTAC conversion in the synthesis research.