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Mass spectrometric study of selected precursors and degradation products of chemical warfare agents
Author(s) -
Papoušková Barbora,
Bednář Petr,
Fryšová Iveta,
Stýskala Jakub,
Hlaváč Jan,
Barták Petr,
Ulrichová Jitka,
Jirkovský Jaromír,
Lemr Karel
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.475
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9888
pISSN - 1076-5174
DOI - 10.1002/jms.1319
Subject(s) - chemistry , mass spectrometry , fragmentation (computing) , electrospray ionization , ion trap , acetonitrile , tandem mass spectrometry , chromatography , electrospray , chloride , chemical ionization , mass , analytical chemistry (journal) , mass spectrum , ion , ionization , organic chemistry , computer science , operating system
Selected precursors and degradation products of chemical warfare agents namely N , N ‐dialkylaminoethane‐2‐ols, N , N ‐dialkylaminoethyl‐2‐chlorides and some of related N ‐quaternary salts were studied by means of electrospray ionization‐multiple tandem mass spectrometry (ESI‐MS n ). Proposed structures were confirmed with accurate mass measurement. General fragmentation patterns of these compounds are discussed in detail and suggested processes are confirmed using deuterated standards. The typical processes are elimination of alkene, hydrogen chloride, or water, respectively. Besides, elimination of ethene from propyl chain under specific conditions was observed and unambiguously confirmed using exact mass measurement and labelled standard. The potential of mass spectrometry to distinguish the positional isomers occurring among the studied compounds is reviewed in detail using two different MS instruments (i.e. ion trap and hybrid quadrupole‐time of flight (Q‐TOF) analyzer). A new microcolumn liquid chromatography (µLC)/MS n method was designed for the cases where the resolution based solely on differences in fragmentation is not sufficient. Low retention of the derivatives on reversed phase (RP) was overcome by using addition of less typical ion pairing agent (1 m M /l, 3,5‐dinitrobenzoic acid) to the mobile phase (mixture water : acetonitrile). Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.