Markers Of Chemical Warfare Agents Research Articles

Monitoring of hydrolysis products of mustard gas, some sesqui- and oxy-mustards and other chemical warfare agents in a plant material by HPLC-MS/MS

At present, there is a real threat of chemical warfare agents being used in terrorist acts and military clashes. Sulfur and nitrogen mustards are blister agents with high lethality and rapid disruption of armed forces. These highly poisonous substances are hydrolyzed to the characteristic marker compounds when released into the environment. Analysis of environmental objects allows to establish the fact of alleged use of chemical warfare agents and to reveal their type. However, water and soil samples are not always reliable for retrospective analysis. The resulting chemical warfare agent markers may be washed out from the application site over time by groundwaters or atmospheric condensations. This study shows the potential for using plants as a convenient material for retrospective analysis. Garden cress (Lepidium sativum) was chosen as a model plant for this purpose, since it can be easily and quickly grown hydroponically. The plants were cultivated in the environment of the selected markers to study an accumulation of these compounds by the plants. An effective and fast method of homogenization with subsequent ultrasonic extraction was applied. The extracts were analyzed using a specially developed and validated HPLC-MS/MS approach. Separation of the hydrophilic markers was carried out on a reversed-phase column with a polar endcapping. Sensitive mass spectrometric detection was performed in the multiple reaction monitoring mode. Achieved limits of detection for most markers were in the range of 2–40 ng mL−1. It was discovered from the research that after the removal of markers from the growing medium the plants are able to store and concentrate these markers for at least 5 weeks, ensuring a high retrospectivity of the analysis. The obtained results indicate the perspective of using plants as additional objects of analysis during the investigation of incidents related to the use of chemical warfare agents. However, more complex plants and models should be studied in the future.

Simultaneous detection and identification of precursors, degradation and co-products of chemical warfare agents in drinking water by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography–quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Environmental markers of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) comprise millions of chemical structures. The simultaneous detection and identification of these environmental markers poses difficulty due to their diverse chemical properties. In this work, by using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography–quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC–QTOF), a generic analytical method for the detection and identification of wide range of environmental markers of CWAs (including precursors, degradation and co-products of nerve agents and sesqui-mustards) in drinking water, was developed. The chromatographic analysis of 55 environmental markers of CWAs including isomeric and isobaric compounds was accomplished within 20min, using 1.8μm particle size column. Subsequent identification of the compounds was achieved by the accurate mass measurement of either protonated molecule [M+H]+ or ammonium adduct [M+NH4]+ and fragment ions. Isomeric and isobaric compounds were distinguished by chromatographic retention time, characteristic fragment ions generated by both in-source collision induced dissociation (CID) and CID in the collision cell by MS/MS experiments. The exact mass measurement errors for all ions were observed less than 3ppm with internal calibration. The method limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantification (LOQs) were determined in drinking water and found to be 1–50ngmL−1 and 5–125ngmL−1, respectively. Applicability of the proposed method was proved by determining the environmental markers of CWAs in aqueous samples provided by Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons during 34th official proficiency test.

Identification of N-Methyl Bis(2-(Alkyloxy-Alkylphosphoryloxy)Ethyl) Amines by LC-HRMS/MS

N-Methyl bis(2-(alkyloxy-alkylphosphoryloxy)ethyl)amines, which are abbreviated as PNPs, are a series of new skeleton chemicals belonging to schedule 2.B.04 chemicals of Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). PNPs are important markers of chemical warfare agents because they are structurally relative to both nerve agents and N-mustards. In this study, fragmentation pathways of the most characteristic fragment ions in Q-TOF mass spectrometry were proposed based on the information from accurate mass and secondary fragmentations of product ions scan experiments. Results indicated that the base ion in LC/HRMS was the quasi-molecular ion [M+H]+. In LC-HRMS/MS, it was [M+H-CnH2n+1P(O)(OH)CmH2m+1O]+ fragment ion which was formed by losing an alkyloxy alkylphosphoryloxy group from the quasi-molecular ion. The diagnostic ion m/z84.0814 was identified as [C5H10N]+, which was the group of (CH2=CH)2N+(H)CH3. PNPs have two protonated centers. One is on the N atom, the other is on the O atom (P=O). O-n-propyl PNPs generally exhibited two fragmentation pathways. Firstly, the quasi-molecular ion [M+H]+ lost a propoxy alkylphosphoryloxy group to produce [R1P(OH+)(O-n-C3H7)OCH2CH2N(CH3)CH=CH2]+, which could be fragmented further to produce [C5H10N]+ ion. Secondly, [R1P(OH+)(O-n-C3H7) OCH=CH2]+ ions were produced from [M+H]+ and fragmented further to produce the abundant ions [R1P(OH+)(OH)OCH =CH2]. However, O-isopropyl PNPs characteristically produced weak fragment ions [M+H-C3H6]+, which were presumably formed via loss of CH3CH=CH2 from [M+H]+. Other PNPs showed similar fragmentation pathways as O-n-propyl PNPs. On the summarization of the MS fragmentation pathways of PNPs, LC-HRMS/MS quantitative and qualitative methods were developed and applied to analyze N-Methyl bis(2-(butoxy-methylphosphoryloxy)ethyl]amine in high background organic samples. The analytical results had successfully supported the sample preparation for the 33rd official proficiency test of Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

A high-resolution phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic method for the non-phosphorus markers of chemical warfare agents

A high-resolution phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic method has been developed for detection, identification and quantification of non-phosphorus markers of toxic nerve agents (soman and V-class), vesicants (HD, HN-2, HN-3), and incapacitating agent (Bz). These analytes were converted to phosphorus-containing derivatives via phosphitylation reaction of their hydroxyl and sulfhydryl functions (using 2-chloro-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaphospholane). This was followed by (31)P{(1)H} and (31)P NMR analysis of these derivatives. The chemical shifts (δ) and coupling constants ((3)J(P-H)) of derivatives were used for their specific detection and identification. The method allowed clear distinction between the alcohols and thiols. The lower limits of detection of these analytes were found to be between 12 and 28 μg obtained from 128 transients of (31)P{(1)H} quantitative NMR experiments. Utility of the method was ensured by the detection and identification of triethanolamine present (at an original concentration of 5 μg/mL) in an aqueous sample from 28th OPCW Official Proficiency Tests.

An isomer-specific high-energy collision-induced dissociation MS/MS database for forensic applications: a proof-of-concept on chemical warfare agent markers

Spectra database search has become the most popular technique for the identification of unknown chemicals, minimizing the need for authentic reference chemicals. In the present study, an isomer-specific high-energy collision-induced dissociation (CID) MS/MS spectra database of 12 isomeric O-hexyl methylphosphonic acids (degradation markers of nerve agents) was created. Phosphonate anions were produced by the electrospray ionization of phosphonic acids or negative-ion chemical ionization of their fluorinated derivatives and were analysed in a hybrid magnetic-sector-time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometer. A centre-of-mass energy (E(com)) of 65 eV led to an optimal sequential carbon-carbon bond breakage, which was interpreted in terms of charge remote fragmentation. The proposed mechanism is discussed in comparison with the routinely used low-energy CID MS/MS. Even-mass (odd-electron) charge remote fragmentation ion series were diagnostic of the O-alkyl chain structure and can be used to interpret unknown spectra. Together with the odd-mass ion series, they formed highly reproducible, isomer-specific spectra that gave significantly higher database matches and probability factors (by 1.5 times) than did the EI MS spectra of the trimethylsilyl derivatives of the same isomers. In addition, ionization by negative-ion chemical ionization and electrospray ionization resulted in similar spectra, which further highlights the general potential of the high-energy CID MS/MS technique.

Determination of hydrolytic degradation products of nerve agents by injection port fluorination in gas chromatography/mass spectrometry for the verification of the Chemical Weapons Convention

Retrospective detection and identification of markers of chemical warfare agents are important aspects of verification of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Alkyl alkylphosphonic acids (AAPAs) and alkylphosphonic acids (APAs) are important markers of nerve agents. We describe the development and optimization of a new gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) injection port fluorination method for the derivatization of AAPAs and APAs. The process involved the injection of acids with trifluoroacetic anhydride in GC/MS, where acids are converted into their corresponding volatile fluorides. Various reaction conditions such as fluorinating agent, injection port temperature and splitless time were optimized. The maximum reaction efficiency of the acids with trifluoroacetic anhydride was observed at 230 degrees C injection port temperature with a splitless time of 2 min. APAs showed best analytical efficiencies at 400 degrees C injection port temperature, while the other conditions were similar to those of AAPAs. The linearities of response for APAs and AAPAs were in the range of 1-25 and 5-100 microg mL(-1), respectively, with limits of detection ranging from 500 pg to 800 ng mL(-1).

Electrospray ionization tandem mass spectral analysis of oxidation products of precursors of sulfur mustards

Electrospray ionization tandem mass spectral (ESI-MSn) analysis of thiodiglycol, bis(2-hydroxyethylthio)alkanes (BHETAs) and their mono-, di-, tri-, and tetraoxygenated compounds was carried out to obtain their characteristic spectra for ESI-MS analysis. These compounds are important markers of chemical warfare agents, namely sulfur mustards. ESI-MSn (n > or = 3) analysis of a compound by collisionally induced dissociation in an ion trap gives rise to mass spectra that are somewhat similar to electron ionization mass spectra. These ESI-MSn spectra can be used for compound identification. Under ESI-MS and ESI-MS/MS the compounds mostly produced [M+NH4]+, [M+H]+ and [M+H--H2O]+ ions. Fragmentations of these even-electron precursors in the ion trap gave rise to characteristic product ions via neutral loss of O2, H2O, C2H4, HCHO, C2H4O, C2H4S, HSC2H4OH and C2H4SO. Fragmentation routes of these compounds are proposed that rationalize the formation of product ions in ESI-MSn analysis.

In situ nucleophilic substitution reaction of N,N‐dialkylaminoethyl‐2‐chlorides monitored by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

The detection and identification of degradation products of scheduled chemicals, which are characteristic markers of Chemical Warfare agents (CWAs), plays a key role in verification analysis. Identification of such non-scheduled but specific markers of CWAs helps in deciphering the kind of agent that was present in the sample submitted for off-site analysis. This paper describes the stability of N,N-dialkylaminoethyl-2-chlorides, which are precursors for highly toxic chemicals like VX, in different solvents. These compounds are stable in chloroform, acetonitrile, hexane and dichloromethane but tend to undergo in situ nucleophilic substitution reaction in the presence of alcohols giving the corresponding alkyl ether. The study shows that N,N-dialkylaminoethyl alkyl ethers can be used as markers of N,N-dialkylaminoethyl-2-chlorides. A detailed degradation study of these compounds in the presence of alcohols was carried out and it was found that the reaction follows pseudo-first order kinetics. Electron ionization mass spectral data for the methyl ethers of all the compounds are briefly discussed.