Correlation of retention times on liquid crystal capillary column with reported vapor pressures and half-lives of compounds used in pheromone formulations.

A method has been developed to determine by capillary gas chromatography on liquid crystal stationary phases the relative vapor pressures and half-lives of many compounds used as insect pheromones. This study demonstrated that the retention time of seven acetates on a liquid crystal column (cholesteryl-p-chlorocinnamate) could be correlated closely to the reported vapor pressures of the compounds. For 13 additional pheromonal acetates and alcohols, reported half-lives showed a high degree of correlation with their retention times on the liquid crystal column. Thus chromatography on capillary liquid crystal gas Chromatographie columns appears to be a useful method for determining the relative volatilities of many pheromones to facilitate the development of more precise formulations.