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TSRC, Tob. Sci. Res. Conf., 2019, 73, abstr. 014

Determination of dicarbonyls and crotonaldehyde in e-vapor products

ZICH D.
ITG Brands, Greensboro, NC, USA

With the increasing popularity in next generation products (NGPs) such as electronic cigarettes, the need for robust high-throughput methods to accurately quantitate very low analyte values found within these products is growing. Dicarbonyls and monocarbonyls represent a class of compounds which are frequently present within commercial e-cigarette aerosols and often found at trace levels. Methods for the compounds found in literature depend heavily on tedious derivatization of the carbonyl groups with 2,4-Dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH), O-(2,3,4,5,6-Pentafluorobenzyl)hydroxylamine (PFBHA), and other select compounds to improve stability and sensitivity. Other methods in literature use solvents which react with monocarbonyls making combined analysis of mono and dicarbonyls problematic. To address these analytical challenges, a simplified and robust GC-MS/MS method was developed using a PTV (programmable temperature vaporizing) inlet that allows for dual quantitation of both dicarbonyls (diacetyl and acetylpropionyl) and monocarbonyls (crotonaldehyde) without the use of a derivatization step. This method offers advantages over current literature in simplicity and speed for sample preparation and simultaneous quantification of mono and dicarbonyls. The method has a runtime of 22 minutes, LOQ’s at 6 ng/mL while maintaining a S/N ratio greater than 10, and recoveries ranging from 90 – 113%.