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Mass spectrometric characterization of naphthenic acids in environmental samples: A review
Author(s) -
Headley John V.,
Peru Kerry M.,
Barrow Mark P.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
mass spectrometry reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.035
H-Index - 126
eISSN - 1098-2787
pISSN - 0277-7037
DOI - 10.1002/mas.20185
Subject(s) - chemistry , naphthenic acid , mass spectrometry , chromatography , electrospray ionization , congener , oil sands , characterization (materials science) , electrospray , environmental chemistry , organic chemistry , corrosion , materials science , cartography , asphalt , nanotechnology , geography
There is a growing need to develop mass spectrometric methods for the characterization of oil sands naphthenic acids (structural formulae described by C n H 2 n + z O 2 where n is the number of carbon atoms and “ z ” is referred to as the “hydrogen deficiency” and is equal to zero, or is a negative, even integer) present in environmental samples. This interest stems from the need to better understand their contribution to the total acid number of oil sands acids; along with assessing their toxicity in aquatic environments. Negative‐ion electrospray ionization has emerged as the analytical technique of choice. For infusion samples, matrix effects are particularly evident for quantification in the presence of salts and co‐elutants. However, such effects can be minimized for methods that employ chromatographic separation prior to mass spectrometry (MS) detection. There have been several advances for accurate identification of classes of naphthenic acid components that employ a range of MS hyphenated techniques. General trends measured for degradation of the NAs in the environment appear to be similar to those obtained with either low‐ or high‐resolution MS. Future MS research will likely focus on (i) development of more reliable quantitative methods that use chromatography and internal standards, (ii) the utility of representative model naphthenic acids as surrogates for the complex NA mixtures, and (iii) development of congener‐specific analysis of the principal toxic components. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., Mass Spec Rev 28:121–134, 2009