Abstract
In the field of chemical warfare agents (CWAs), ethanolamines are important building blocks for the preparation of nerve agents belonging to the V-series such as VX and VR as well as the nitrogen-based mustards. In this work, the determination of three members in this class of Schedule 2B reportable chemicals, namely N,N-dimethylethanolamine (DMEA), N,N-diethylethanolamine (DEEA), and N,N-diisopropylethanolamine (DIEA) by electron ionization gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (EI-GC-MS) is presented. The three dialkylethanolamines were spiked in a high organic content soil matrix featured during the 45th Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) proficiency test (PT) at two separate concentrations each (1 and 10 µg/g separately), simulating values often encountered during these tests. The N,N-dialkylethanolamines were O-alkylated using benzyl bromide and sodium carbonate at 55 °C and were detected as their benzylated versions by electron ionization GC-MS. The benzylation of each dialkylethanolamine yielded derivatives with higher molecular weight and therefore different GC-MS profiles such as longer retention times and sharper peak chromatography relative to their unmodified counterparts. These characteristics enable the analytical chemist to detect and confirm these important CWA-related chemicals specifically in instances where they are present in low concentrations (i.e. <10 µg/g) among more abundant interferences.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Dr. Carolyn Koester and Mr. Armando Alcaraz for critical reading of the manuscript as well as engaging discussions regarding of GC-MS data acquisition and instrumentation described in this work.
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Auspices statement
This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.