In gas chromatography, some compounds have to be derivatised, mainly those containing polar functional groups (active hydrogens), in order to improve their volatility, thermal stability and, in some cases, detection sensitivity.
For example, halogen atoms (trifluoroacetates) can be introduced to increase the detection limit when using electron capture detectors ECDs. ITW Reagents offers the GC derivatization reagents most commonly used in the silylation derivatization reactions.