A New and More Sensitive Procedure For Analysis of Peroxybenzoyl Nitrate

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The existence of the powerful lacrimator peroxybenzoyl nitrate (PBzN) as a laboratory-generated photochemical smog product was first established in 1968. However, the analysis of this compound at the requisite parts-per-billion level is difficult. For example, although earlier research suggested that all mono-alkyl benzenes having at least two benzylic hydrogens form PBzN, PBzN formation fromtoluene-NOz mixtures could not be established in smog chambers due to analytical interferences with the Gas Liquid Chromatography-Electron Capture (GLC-EC) method. The present paper proposes a new procedure for PBzN which is highly sensitive and less subject to interferences. The procedure involves quantitative conversion of PBzN to methyl benzoate (MeOBz) by trapping this compound in basic methanol solution followed by Gas Liquid Chroma-tography-Flame lonization Detection (GLC-FID) determination of the MeOBz. By employing this method, the formation of PBzN from laboratory irradiation of toluene-NOx in air was demonstrated and quantitatively determined. Furthermore, the absence of PBzN formation from o-xylene and i-propylbenzene was confirmed. The technique has, in principle, unlimited sensitivity. Preliminary atmospheric sampling trials in the San Francisco Bay Area demonstrated that, if PBzN were present, its concentration was ≤0.07 ppb.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: