AS240: Automated Extraction of Free Base and Protonated Nicotine From E-Liquids

Martin Perkins

2nd October 2020

The determination of free-base and protonated nicotine in e-liquids is a requirement of the Tobacco Products Directive and is usually carried out via manual solvent extraction and gas chromatography analysis.

This Application Note describes an automated extraction procedure, using the GERSTEL MPSrobotic platform, as well as automated preparation of calibration standards.

The automated calibration preparation shows better linearity – 0.9997 vs. 0.9977 – than the manual procedure and the sample extraction compares favourably to the manual procedure.

An additional benefit is the significant reduction in analyst time, with the only manual part of the process being the initial addition of the e-liquid samples to the extraction vials.

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