Non carbon containing compounds

Quality Control
1

For carbon containing compounds it is known that UV detector can be good to detect impurities containing carbon, but what instrument would be good for detecting impurities which have no carbons?

2

UV detection relies on chromophores, so if your impurities are non-carbon compounds (e.g., inorganic salts, simple ions), UV won’t see them. A few options:

  • Conductivity detectors – often used in ion chromatography to pick up ionic, non-organic species.
  • Refractive Index (RI) detectors – can detect compounds without UV activity, though they’re less sensitive.
  • ICP-MS or ICP-OES – if you’re specifically targeting trace metals or inorganics.
  • Evaporative Light Scattering Detector (ELSD) – good for non-volatile, non-UV absorbing analytes.

So the “right” instrument depends on what kind of non-carbon impurities you’re after—inorganics (use IC + conductivity or ICP) vs. non-UV organic species (RI or ELSD).