Application of gas chromatography–cryocondensation–Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry to the identification of gas phase reaction products from the α-pinene/ozone reaction

Abstract

The gas phase reaction of α-pinene with the atmospheric oxidant ozone was investigated by using the capabilities of both gas chromatography–cryocondensation–Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (GC–FT-IR) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), for the identification of the reaction products formed. The reaction was carried out in a flow reaction chamber from where the compounds were sampled on Tenax-containing adsorption cartridges. The reaction mixture was injected onto the column after thermodesorption and analyzed using both GC–IR and GC–MS. Twenty compounds could be detected, including the reactant α-pinene and it’s impurities tricyclene and camphene. Eleven compounds were identified by spectra comparison with either reference data or spectra obtained from commercial standards. Four compounds were tentatively identified from their IR and MS spectra, while from the remaining two compounds the nature of basic functional groups could be established.