Applying the 5975 inert MSD to the Higher Molecular Weight Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs)

A previous application note presented results for analysis of the polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in polymers using the 5973N inert MSD [1]. Mass spectra were presented and interpreted for all of the important PBDEs. The new 5975 inert MSD provides many new features and improvements with expanded mass range to 1050 u being but one. This note presents the full spectra of the octa-, nona and decabrominated biphenyls ethers including ions that appear beyond the mass range of the previous 5973 MSD platform. Introduction PBDEs have become the “new PCBs” due to their widespread detection throughout the ecosystem. They have some structural and consequently mass spectral features in common with the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as well. The series of fragments formed by loss of chlorines (M-nCl2) generates a number of intense ions useful in their determination. The PCBs also show relatively intense molecular ion clusters that assist in distinguishing the congeners. Similar attributes are expected and hoped for the PBDEs which show much more analytical difficulty than the PCBs. Applying the 5975 inert MSD to the Higher Molecular Weight Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) Application This note presents the full scan spectra obtained for the PBDEs over the extended mass range of the 5975 inert MSD. The polymeric sample preparation and extraction protocols are cited elsewhere and supply two approaches to PBDE determinations [1]. Experimental PBDE standards were acquired from Cambridge Isotope Laboratories (Andover, MA) and AccuStandard (New Haven, CT). Instrumental Configuration and Conditions The 6890 GC configuration and conditions are given in the previous application note [1]. The 5975 inert MSD system was operated in scan mode for acquisition of the PBDE spectra. The MSD scan operating parameters are cited in Table 1. Environmental, Component Testing Table 1. 5975 inert MSD Configuration and Parameters Mass spectrometer parameters Ionization mode Electron impact Ionization energy 70 eV Tune parameters Autotune Electron multiplier voltage Autotune + 400V Scan mode 200–1000 u Quadrupole temperature 150 °C Inert source temperature 300 °C Full conditions and parameters, as appropriate to the polymer analysis cited in reference 1, are available in the eMethod for this analysis (www.agilent.com/chem/emethods).