| A new method of liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry was developed to detect fluorotelomer acids and unsaturated acids, an important class of industrial materials, in complicated aqueous environments. The compounds were separated by an isocratic elution of 70:30 methanol:water solution, and identified by tandem mass spectrometer with negative electrospray ionization.;Degradation of 6:2 and 8:2 fluorotelomer acids was carried separately under biotic conditions and abiotic conditions. In both situations, a molecule of hydrogen fluoride (HF) was eliminated from the fluorotelomer acids to form the unsaturated acids. The degradation ultimately produced two-carbon less perfluoroacids under biotic conditions, but stopped at the unsaturated acids under abiotic conditions. The abiotic elimination of fluorotelomer acids was a pseudo-first-order reaction, with rates dependent on the pH and temperature of the matrices. A reaction mechanism was postulated on the basis of the kinetic and dynamic results. |
