PNNL

Abstract

In this work we present the feasibility of using analytical chemical and chemometric methodologies to reveal and exploit the organic impurity profiles from commercial dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP) samples to illustrate the type of forensic information that may be obtained from chemical-attack evidence. Using DMMP as a model compound for a toxicant that may be used in a chemical attack, we used comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography mass spectrometric detection (GC × GC-TOFMS) to detect and identify trace organic impurities in six samples of commercially acquired DMMP. The GC x GC-TOFMS data were analyzed to produce impurity profiles for all six DMMP samples using 29 analyte impurities. The use of PARAFAC for the mathematical resolution of overlap GC x GC peaks ensured clean spectra for the identification of many of the detected analytes by spectral library matching. The use of statistical pairwise comparison revealed that there were trace impurities that were quantitatively similar and different among five of the six DMMP samples. Two of the DMMP samples were revealed to have identical impurity profiles by this approach. The use of nonnegative matrix factorization proved that there were five distinct DMMP sample types as illustrated by the clustering of the multiple DMMP analyses into 5 distinct clusters in the scores plots. The two indistinguishable DMMP samples were confirmed by their chemical supplier to be from the same bulk source. Sample information from the other chemical suppliers supported that the other five DMMP samples were likely from different bulk sources. These results demonstrate that the matching of synthesized products from the same source is possible using impurity profiling. In addition, the identified impurities common to all six DMMP samples provide strong evidence that basic route information can be obtained from impurity profiles. In addition, impurities that may be unique to the sole bulk manufacturer of DMMP were found in some of the DMMP samples.