Use of porous graphitic carbon for the analysis of nitrate ester, nitramine and nitroaromatic explosives and by-products by liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation-mass spectrometry.
A new LC/MS method was developed for the analysis of sixteen different analytes including the most common organic explosives encountered in forensic investigations. The separation was achieved using a porous graphitic carbon (PGC) column with a binary gradient elution. Molecular modeling suggested a possible interpretation for the elution order of explosive compounds on PGC. The introduction of ammonium formate in the mobile phase resulted in the formation of characteristic adduct ions thus enhancing the mass spectrometric detection of nitrate ester and nitramine compounds. Atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) and electrospray ionization (ESI) were compared in terms of sensitivity. The final LC/APCI-MS method allowed easy identification of investigated compounds with limits of detection ranging from 0.04 to 1.06 ng/microl. The analysis of simulated forensic samples confirmed the performance of the method.
Tachon
Romain
R
Laboratoire Central de la Préfecture de Police, 39 bis rue de Dantzig, 75015 Paris, France.
Pichon
Valérie
V
Le Borgne
Martine Barbe
MB
Minet
Jean-Jacques
JJ
D000814:Aniline Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D001274:Atmospheric Pressure; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D053834:Explosive Agents / Q000032:analysis*; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D009566:Nitrates / Q000032:analysis*; D009578:Nitrobenzenes / Q000032:analysis*
D000814:Aniline Compounds; D053834:Explosive Agents; D009566:Nitrates; D009578:Nitrobenzenes; D006108:Graphite; C015384:nitramine