Artifacts in trimethylsilyl derivatization reactions and ways to avoid them

Trimethylsilyl derivatives are routinely employed in gas chromatography to increase the volatility and stability of organic compounds containing activ e hydrogens. Normally only the desired derivative is formed when organic co mpounds are derivatized with common silylation reagents. However, some comp ounds form additional unexpected derivatives or by-products (artifacts). Ar tifact formation leads to multiple peaks for the same compound or unexpecte d components in the gas chromatographic analysis of mixtures. This review i ncludes silylation artifacts identified in our laboratory by mass spectrome try during the last 20 years and references to those found in the literatur e. Also, means of avoiding artifact formation are discussed in detail. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.