title: Identification of certain chemical agents in complex organic solutions by gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry.
abstract: Analytical methods that are used for the detection and identification of chemicals related to the Chemical Weapons Convention in complex organic solutions were developed. A matrix modified by the addition of complex diesel oil background compounds and interferences was used for the development of a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry or gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS or GC-MS/MS) method for unambiguous identification of the scheduled chemicals. Co-elution of diethyl N,N-dimethylphosphoramidate and ethyl N,N-dimethylphosphoramidocyanidate, which are not separated by GC, was identified by GC-MS. Although GC-MS can identify the compounds, GC-MS/MS identification has greater accuracy and sensitivity in the case of complex matrixes. Four scheduled chemicals were accurately and selectively identified against numerous interfering substances by GC-MS/MS. The fragmentation chemistry of these compounds using MS/MS analysis was investigated.
authors.affiliation: Research institute of chemical defense, Beijing, China. fhleimeiling@tom.com
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mei-ling
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hai-ling
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Da-nian
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhi-sheng