Application of Quantitative Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy to Chemical Warfare Agents

Abstract

This report outlines the development of a quantitative proton NMR spectroscopy method for determining the purity of CWAs using homogeneous internal standards. The method was validated to an accuracy and precision better than 1% through the use of certified NMR standards. The method is useful for determining the purity of major chemical species at concentrations at or above 25 mM, and for identifying and quantifying minor chemical species at or above 0.06 mM and 0.20 mM, respectively. The method was employed to determine the purity of three chemical warfare agents (HD, GB and VX) and was found to be equal to or better than chromatography in terms of precision, accuracy and analysis turnaround time. As qHNMR simplifies the analysis procedure, exposure of personnel and analytical equipment to CWAs is minimised.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2012
Accession Number
ADA575263

Entities

People

  • Nathan W. Mcgill

Organizations

  • Defence Science and Technology Group

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Chemical Shifts
  • Chemical Warfare
  • Chemical Warfare Agents
  • Chemical Weapons
  • Chromatographs
  • Chromatography
  • Complex Mixtures
  • Data Sets
  • Magnetic Resonance
  • Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
  • Precision
  • Resonance
  • Spectra
  • Spectroscopy
  • Standards
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Systems Analysis and Design