Why must compounds be vaporized without decomposing for gas chromatography?

In gas chromatography, the sample must be vaporized to be transported through the column by the carrier gas. This technique relies on the sample existing in a gaseous state to interact with the stationary phase and separate into its individual components.12

Compounds must be vaporized without decomposing because the integrity of the chemical substances must be maintained for accurate analysis. If a compound decomposes during the vaporization process, the resulting fragments would no longer represent the original sample, rendering the qualitative and quantitative results invalid.12

For substances that do not easily vaporize or are thermally unstable, chemists often use chemical derivatization to modify the molecules, allowing them to be successfully volatilized and separated without suffering degradation.2