For the analysis of highly complex chemical mixtures, new ways of interpreting analytical data from existing analytical techniques was introduced and new analytical techniques with increased separation capabilities developed.
The data interpretation methods introduced incorporate the unique chemical and physical interactions of compound classes with the stationary phase of a two-dimensional gas chromatographic system and the unique fragmentation pattern observed for different compound classes.
The new analytical techniques introduced involve the use of mass spectrometry as a separation dimension coupled to one- and two-dimensional gas chromatography. Photo ionisation mass spectrometry, which produces mostly molecular ions, were successfully used in new two- and three-dimensional separation techniques.