DESI-MS/MS of Chemical Warfare Agents and Related Compounds

Solid phase microextraction (SPME) fibers were used to headspace sample chemical warfare agents and their hydrolysis products from glass vials and glass vials containing spiked media, including Dacron swabs, office carpet, paper and fabric. The interface of the Z-spray source was modified to permit safe introduction of the SPME fibers for desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometric (DESI-MS) analysis. A "dip and shoot" method was also developed for the rapid sampling and DEST-MS analysis of chemical warfare agents and their hydrolysis products in liquid samples. Sampling was performed by simply dipping fused silica, stainless steel or SPME tips into the organic or aqueous samples. Replicate analyses were completed within several minutes under ambient conditions with no sample pre-treatment, resulting in a significant increase in sample throughput. The developed sample handling and analysis method was applied to the determination of chemical warfare agent content in samples containing unknown chemical and/or biological warfare agents. Ottawa sand was spiked with sulfur mustard, extracted with water and autoclaved to ensure sterility. Sulfur mustard was completely hydrolysed during the extraction/autoclave step and thiodiglycol was identified by DESI-MS, with analyses generally being completed within 1 min using the "dip and shoot" method.