Environmental formaldehyde analysis by active diffusive sampling with a bundle of polypropylene porous capillaries followed by capillary zone electrophoretic separation and contactless conductivity detection.

Compared to other volatile carbonylic compounds present in outdoor air, formaldehyde (CH(2)O) is the most toxic, deserving more attention in terms of indoor and outdoor air quality legislation and control. The analytical determination of CH(2)O in air still presents challenges due to the low-level concentration (in the sub-ppb range) and its variation with sampling site and time. Of the many available analytical methods for carbonylic compounds, the most widespread one is the time consuming collection in cartridges impregnated with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine followed by the analysis of the formed hydrazones by HPLC. The present work proposes the use of polypropylene hollow porous capillary fibers to achieve efficient CH(2)O collection. The Oxyphan fiber (designed for blood oxygenation) was chosen for this purpose because it presents good mechanical resistance, high density of very fine pores and high ratio of collection area to volume of the acceptor fluid in the tube, all favorable for the development of air sampling apparatus. The collector device consists of a Teflon pipe inside of which a bundle of polypropylene microporous capillary membranes was introduced. While the acceptor passes at a low flow rate through the capillaries, the sampled air circulates around the fibers, impelled by a low flow membrane pump (of the type used for aquariums ventilation). The coupling of this sampling technique with the selective and quantitative determination of CH(2)O, in the form of hydroxymethanesulfonate (HMS) after derivatization with HSO(3)(-), by capillary electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (CE-C(4)D) enabled the development of a complete analytical protocol for the CH(2)O evaluation in air.

Probing the mechanism of direct Mannich-type alpha-methylenation of ketoesters via electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

Reactions promoting direct Mannich-type alpha-methylenation of alpha, beta and gamma-ketoesters have been monitored via electrospray ionization mass and tandem mass spectrometric experiments. Key intermediates of the catalytical cycle of this synthetically useful reaction have been intercepted and characterized. The mechanistic information provided by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) guided the optimization of reaction conditions, allowing alpha-methyleneketoesters to be prepared in high yields (80-95%) and in high-enough purity for immediate further manipulation.