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Screening hydrolysis products of sulfur mustard agents by high-performance liquid chromatography with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry detection

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Abstract

Sulfur mustard (HD), bis(2-chloroethyl)sulfide, is one of a class of mustard agents which are chemical warfare agents. The main chemical warfare hydrolysis degradation products of sulfur mustards are: thiodiglycol, bis(2-hydroxyethylthio)methane, 1,2-bis(2-hydroxyethylthio)ethane, 1,3-bis(2-hydroxyethylthio)propane, and 1,4-bis(2-hydroxyethylthio)butane. The aim of this study is to identify these five hydrolysis degradation products utilizing reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for element-specific sulfur detection using a collision/reaction cell and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry to confirm the identification. To date, this is the first study utilizing ICP-MS with 32S element-specific detection for the analysis of vesicant chemical warfare agent degradation products.

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Correspondence to Karolin K. Kroening or Joseph A. Caruso.

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Kroening, K.K., Richardson, D.D., Afton, S. et al. Screening hydrolysis products of sulfur mustard agents by high-performance liquid chromatography with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry detection. Anal Bioanal Chem 393, 1949–1956 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-009-2642-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-009-2642-y

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