A SIFT study of reactions of positive and negative ions with
polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) molecules in dry and humid nitrogen at 393 K.
Abstract
Rationale. Data are required for SIFT-MS analysis of per- and
poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that are persistent in the
environment and cause adverse health effects. Specifically, the rate
coefficients and product ion branching ratios of the reactions of H
3O +, NO +, O
2 +•, O -•, OH
-, O 2 -•, NO
2 -, and NO 3
- with PFAS vapours are needed. Methods The
dual polarity SIFT-MS instrument (Voice200) was used to generate these 8
reagent ions and inject them into the flow tube with N 2
carrier gas at a temperature of 393 K. Vapours of pentafluoropropionic
acid, heptafluorobutyric acid, nonafluoro-1-hexanol,
perfluoro-2-methyl-2-pentene, perfluorohexanoic acid,
perfluoro(2-methyl-3-oxahexanoic) acid, tridecafluoro-1-octanol, and
nonafluorobutane-1-sulfonic acid were introduced in dry and humid air.
Full-scan mass spectra were collected for all reagents at variable PFAS
concentrations and analysed numerically. Results Rate
coefficients were determined for 64 reactions, for which 55 positive and
71 negative product ions were identified. The branching ratios for the
primary reaction channels were extracted from the data, and the
secondary chemistry with H 2O molecules was
qualitatively assessed. The thermochemical data were calculated for the
H 3O + reactions using Density
Functional Theory (DFT). Conclusions An important observation
is that secondary reactions with water molecules remove the positive
product ions, making them unsuitable for practical SIFT-MS analysis of
PFAS vapours. In contrast, most negative reaction product ions are not
significantly affected by humidity and are thus preferred for the
SIFT-MS analyses of PFAS substances in various gaseous matrices.