Research Article
Akio Yasuhara, Yuuka Tanaka
Abstract
Organic compounds in the environment, such as pesticides, degrade into inorganics via transformation into carbonyl compounds, such as formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acetone. 2, 4-Dinitrophenylhydrazones of 37 carbonyl compounds were prepared with 2, 4-dinitrophenyl hydrazine (DNPH). Their ESI negative spectra and EI positive spectra were obtained using an HPLC-mass spectrograph. EI positive spectra showed more ions than ESI negative spectra except in the case of two hydrazones. Molecular ions (M+) of carbonyl-DNPHs appeared as a base peak in the EI positive spectra in the case of all but 8 hydrazones. Many significant ions for the identification of a specific carbonyl compound are obtained by ESI negative spectra. Analysis of acetone in various waste waters was successfully conducted using a newly developed ESI negative spectroscopy method-levels found in the samples ranged from 2.1 mg/L to135.0 mg/L. Results of similar tests of the rate of acetone degradation in various water samples showed that acetone in moat water degraded completely after 18 days, whereas 70% of the acetone remained in pure water after 65 days, suggesting that microorganisms may play an important role in the degradation of carbonyl compounds in the environment.