Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Analytical Methodology for Rapid Determination of Organic Aerosol Functional Group Distributions

Published

Author(s)

Alicia J. Pettibone, William S. McGivern

Abstract

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) particles result from the condensation of oxidized volatile organic compounds (VOC) and consist of a complex mixture that resists a complete analysis. We present a simple methodology for determining the quantities of aldehydes and ketones, alcohols, and carboxylic acids in such samples via derivatization and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with ultraviolet-visible absorption detection and tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS). Such data are valuable in modeling the formation of laboratory-generated aerosols and in source apportionment of field samples. Calibration curves on standard samples, MS-MS transitions, including collisionally-induced dissociation (CID) products, and a quantitative examination of the specificity of the derivatization reagents toward multiple functional groups are presented for a series of aliphatic standard samples. Ultimately, this methodology enables the measurement of variations in the chemical nature of the oxygen within an SOA particle, essentially providing a distribution of functional groups.
Citation
Analytical Chemistry
Volume
85

Keywords

Secondary organic aerosol, high-performance liquid chromatography, derivatization, tandem mass spectrometry

Citation

Pettibone, A. and McGivern, W. (2013), Analytical Methodology for Rapid Determination of Organic Aerosol Functional Group Distributions, Analytical Chemistry, [online], https://doi.org/10.1021/ac3028728 (Accessed December 12, 2024)

Issues

If you have any questions about this publication or are having problems accessing it, please contact reflib@nist.gov.

Created March 4, 2013, Updated October 12, 2021