title: Gas chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry of triacetone triperoxide based on femtosecond laser ionization.
abstract: Triacetone triperoxide (TATP), which is used as an explosive in acts of terrorism, was measured by means of gas chromatography/multiphoton ionization/time-of-flight mass spectrometry using a deep-ultraviolet (deep-UV) femtosecond laser as an ionization source. The fragmentation process was investigated by changing the intensity of the laser at the center axis of a molecular beam. A molecular ion was observed using a femtosecond laser, and the ratio of the intensities of the molecular and fragment ions decreased as the intensity of the laser increased. These results suggest that TATP can be efficiently ionized using a deep-UV, ultrashort optical pulse. Furthermore, fragmentation was accelerated by excess energy supplied through higher-order multiphoton processes under a strong radiation field. The detection limits obtained using the molecular ion and two dominant fragment ions, C(2)H(3)O(+) and CH(3) (+), were determined to be 670, 83 and 150 pg, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Uchimura
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Imasaka
authors.forename: Totaro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Imasaka