Comparison of photodiode array, evaporative light scattering, and single-quadrupole mass spectrometric detection methods for the UPLC analysis of pyrolysis liquids

It is important to analyze pyrolysis liquids to evaluate the yield of valuable products as well as unfavorable by-products. This work focuses on choosing detectors for reversed-phase ultra high-performance liquid chromatography analysis of pyrolysis liquids. The linearity, sensitivity, precision, and recovery of photodiode array (PDA) detector, single-quadrupole mass spectrometer (MS), and evaporative light scattering (ELS) detector were compared for the quantitative determination of several typical compounds found in pyrolysis liquids. PDA and MS detectors were found to be suitable for the quantification of furans and phenol derivatives (furfural, vanillin, syringol), but sugars and their derivatives (glucose, xylose, levoglucosan) can be analyzed with MS or ELS detectors.