title: New method for resolving the enantiomeric composition of 2-methyltetrols in atmospheric organic aerosols.
abstract: In order to facilitate the determination of the primary and secondary origin of atmospheric organic aerosols, a novel method involving chiral capillary gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry has been developed and validated. The method was focused on the analysis of 2-methylerythritol and 2-methylthreitol, considered to be tracers of secondary organic aerosols from the oxidation of atmospheric isoprene. The method was validated by performing various tests using authentic standards, including pure enantiomeric standards. The result showed that the analytical method itself does not affect the enantiomeric composition of the samples analyzed. The method was applied on atmospheric aerosols from a boreal forest collected in Aspvreten, Sweden and on laboratory samples obtained from liquid phase oxidation of isoprene and smog chamber experiments. Aerosol samples contained one enantiomer of 2-methylerythritol in significantly larger quantities than the others. In contrast, the liquid-phase oxidation of isoprene and its gas-phase oxidation in the smog chamber produced all enantiomers in equal quantities. The results obtained where the enantiomer fraction, EF, is larger than 0.50 suggest that 2-methyltetrols in atmospheric aerosols may also have biological origin. Information about the differences between enantiomer fractions obtained using this method brings new insights in the area of atmospheric aerosols.
authors: Department of Applied Environmental Science, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden. nelida.gonzalez@itm.su.se
authors: Nélida J D
authors: NJ
authors: González
authors: Anna-Karin
authors: AK
authors: Borg-Karlson
authors: Johan Pettersson
authors: JP
authors: Redeby
authors: Barbara
authors: B
authors: Nozière
authors: Radovan
authors: R
authors: Krejci
authors: Yuxin
authors: Y
authors: Pei
authors: Josef
authors: J
authors: Dommen
authors: André S H
authors: AS
authors: Prévôt
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols / Q000032:analysis; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000737:chemistry*; D002070:Butadienes / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D004896:Erythritol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D045782:Hemiterpenes / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D057230:Limit of Detection; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010420:Pentanes / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D013548:Sweden; D014197:Trees
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D000393:Air Pollutants; D002070:Butadienes; D045782:Hemiterpenes; D010420:Pentanes; C005059:isoprene; C043904:3-C-methylerythritol; D004896:Erythritol