title: Determination of carbon isotope ratios of methanol and acetaldehyde in air samples by gas chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry combined with headspace solid-phase microextraction.
abstract: Isotopic signatures of atmospheric methanol and acetaldehyde have the potential to improve our ability to quantitatively assess their importance in atmospheric chemistry. However, isotopic measurements of atmospheric methanol and acetaldehyde and their individual source and sink processes have been limited. In this study, we examined gas chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry combined with headspace solid-phase microextraction to measure the carbon isotope ratios of methanol and acetaldehyde in air samples. The method enabled us to determine carbon isotope ratios with a precision (1 standard deviation) of ± 0.6 ‰ for 20 ml of air sample containing more than 3 ppm of methanol and ± 0.7 ‰ for 20 ml of air sample containing more than 2 ppm of acetaldehyde. Moreover, the applicability of this method to determine isotope ratios of methanol and acetaldehyde emitted from detached plant leaves was demonstrated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Chemistry and Engineering, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Japan. yamada.k.ag@m.titech.ac.jp
authors.forename: Keita
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Ryota
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shibata
authors.forename: Naohiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yoshida
mesh_terms: D000079:Acetaldehyde / Q000032:analysis*; D000388:Air / Q000032:analysis*; D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D000431:Ethanol / Q000032:analysis; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D000432:Methanol / Q000032:analysis*; D052617:Solid Phase Microextraction
chemical_list: D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D000431:Ethanol; D000079:Acetaldehyde; D000432:Methanol