title: Examination of technical mixtures of halogen-free phosphorus based flame retardants using multiple analytical techniques.
abstract: The application of phosphorus based flame retardants as replacements for commonly used halogenated flame retardants has been gaining interest due to the possibility that these compounds may have a less significant impact on human and environmental health. Unfortunately, little is known about the chemical compositions of many of the technical products (which often are mixtures) and a single separation technique for concurrent analysis of these types of compounds has not been identified. This paper reports the results of an investigation into the constituents of three halogen free organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs), resorcinol bis(diphenyl phosphate) (RDBPP), bisphenol A bis(diphenyl phosphate) (BPA-BDPP), and 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide (DOPO). The major components of commercial samples of RDBPP and BPA-BDPP were isolated by preparative TLC and characterized by NMR. A commercial sample of DOPO was found to be essentially pure, but its analysis is complicated by the fact that it can exist in ring-open and ring-closed forms. With the structures of the components confirmed by NMR, multiple analytical separation techniques (gas chromatography (GC), liquid chromatography (LC), and packed column supercritical fluid chromatography (pSFC)) were investigated for the analysis of these three technical products. Packed column supercritical fluid chromatography allows the separation of the components of all three OPFRs, including the two forms of DOPO, in a single run.
authors.affiliation: Wellington Laboratories Inc., 345 Southgate Drive, Guelph, ON, N1G 3M5, Canada; Man-Technology-Environment (MTM) Research Center, Örebro University, Örebro, 70182, Sweden. Electronic address: nicole@well-labs.com.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Riddell
authors.affiliation: Man-Technology-Environment (MTM) Research Center, Örebro University, Örebro, 70182, Sweden; Norwegian Institute for Water Research, NO-349, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Bert
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: van Bavel
authors.affiliation: Man-Technology-Environment (MTM) Research Center, Örebro University, Örebro, 70182, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ericson Jogsten
authors.affiliation: Wellington Laboratories Inc., 345 Southgate Drive, Guelph, ON, N1G 3M5, Canada; Chemistry Department, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McCrindle
authors.affiliation: Wellington Laboratories Inc., 345 Southgate Drive, Guelph, ON, N1G 3M5, Canada.
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McAlees
authors.affiliation: Wellington Laboratories Inc., 345 Southgate Drive, Guelph, ON, N1G 3M5, Canada.
authors.forename: Brock
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chittim
mesh_terms: D002623:Chemistry Techniques, Analytical / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000032:analysis*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009943:Organophosphorus Compounds / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D005411:Flame Retardants; D009943:Organophosphorus Compounds
keywords: BPA-BDPP; DOPO; NMR; Organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs); RDBPP; pSFC/MS method