Accurate quantitation of pentaerythritol tetranitrate and its degradation products using liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-mass spectrometry
article
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. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.
Topics
Accurate quantitationCrime-scene presenceExplosivesForensic scienceLC-MSPentaerythritol tetranitrateAtmospheric ionizationAtmospheric pressureCrimeDegradationExplosionsIonizationLiquid chromatographyMass spectrometryStandardsAccurate quantitationCrime-scene presenceForensic scienceLC-MSPentaerythritol tetranitrateExplosives
TNO Identifier
492947
ISSN
1873-3778
Source
Journal of Chromatography A, 1338, pp. 111-116.
Publisher
Elsevier
Pages
111-116
Files
To receive the publication files, please send an e-mail request to TNO Repository.