title: Accurate quantitation of pentaerythritol tetranitrate and its degradation products using liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-mass spectrometry.
abstract: After an explosion of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), its degradation products pentaerythritol trinitrate (PETriN), dinitrate (PEDiN) and mononitrate (PEMN) were detected using liquid chromatography-atmospheric-pressure chemical-ionization-mass spectrometry (LC-APCI-MS). Discrimination between post-explosion and naturally degraded PETN could be achieved based on the relative amounts of the degradation products. This information can be used as evidence when investigating a possible relationship between a suspect and a post-explosion crime scene. The present work focuses on accurate quantitation of PETN and its degradation products, using PETriN, PEDiN and PEMN standards specifically synthesized for this purpose. With the use of these standards, the ionization behavior of these compounds was studied, and a quantitative method was developed. Quantitation of PETN and trace levels of its degradation products was shown to be possible with accuracy between 85.7% and 103.7% and a precision ranging from 1.3% to 11.5%. The custom-made standards resulted in a more robust and reliable method to discriminate between post-explosion and naturally-degraded PETN.
authors.affiliation: University of Amsterdam, van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, P.O. Box 94157, 1090 GD Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Netherlands Forensic Institute, P.O. Box 24044, 2490 AA The Hague, The Netherlands; TNO Defence, Security and Safety, P.O. Box 45, 2280 AA Rijswijk, The Netherlands. Electronic address: g.m.h.brust@uva.nl.
authors.forename: Hanneke
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Brust
authors.affiliation: University of Amsterdam, van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, P.O. Box 94157, 1090 GD Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Netherlands Forensic Institute, P.O. Box 24044, 2490 AA The Hague, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Arian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Asten
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Forensic Institute, P.O. Box 24044, 2490 AA The Hague, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mattijs
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koeberg
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Forensic Institute, P.O. Box 24044, 2490 AA The Hague, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dalmolen
authors.affiliation: TNO Defence, Security and Safety, P.O. Box 45, 2280 AA Rijswijk, The Netherlands; Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5, 2600 AA Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van der Heijden
authors.affiliation: University of Amsterdam, van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, P.O. Box 94157, 1090 GD Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schoenmakers
mesh_terms: D001274:Atmospheric Pressure; D002138:Calibration; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D010417:Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D010417:Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate; C100210:pentrinitrol
keywords: Accurate quantitation; Crime-scene presence; Explosives; Forensic science; LC–MS; Pentaerythritol tetranitrate