High performance liquid chromatography study of complex oxygenated alkane mixtures from organic aerosols

The composition of secondary organic aerosol particles is of primary importance both in identifying particle sources and in determining physical parameters, such as cloud condensation nucleus propensity. Further, measurements of composition are valuable in determining the chemistry of formation and aging. In this work, we describe the application of a recently-developed derivatization technique to a complex synthetic organic aerosol derived from the photolysis of 1-iodooctane. The technique utilizes high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to both ultraviolet-visible (UV/VIS) spectroscopy and tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS) to determine the overall distribution of hydroxyl (OH), non-acid carbonyl (C=O), and carboxylic acid (COOH) moieties as well as the specific identities of chromatographically separated products. This composition data will then be used to constrain models of the particle formation mechanisms.