Selective Determination of Pentafluorobenzyl Ester Derivatives of Carboxylic Acids by GC Using Microwave Plasma and Mass Selective Detection

Article abstract of DOI:10.1366/0003702914335193

A highly selective, sensitive method for determination of carboxylic acids in water has been developed that is based on fluorine-selective gas chromatography (GC) detection of pentafluorobenzyl ester derivatives. The atmospheric-pressure helium microwave-induced plasma detector is well suited for fluorine-specific detection of these derivatives, which were well resolved by capillary GC and displayed a characteristic fragmentation behavior when examined by GC-mass selective detection. For demonstration purposes, a number of carboxylic acids, ranging from C1 to C20, were examined and found to be derivatized with yields greather than 90 percent, and a sample of creek water was examined for its carboxylic acid content. - Index Headings: Microwave-induced plasma detector; Fluorine; Carboxylic acids; Pentafluorobenzyl esters