Identification of acetylenes in the output from a jet-stirred combustor by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-fourier transform infrared spectrometry

Abstract

When analyzed by gas Chromatographic mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), some combustion-derived components yield equivocal mass spectra whose simple patterns suggest aromatic rings but whose molecular mass rule out such structures. Although acyclic polyunsaturated molecules are strongly suggested, the lack of structural detail and the scarcity of reference compounds lowers confidence in GC-MS data. Fortunately, Fourier-transform infrared Spectrometry is well-suited to the identification of unsaturated molecules and often provides the complementary information required for complete characterization.