Optimization of an ultrasound-assisted derivatization for GC/MS analysis of oxygenated organic species in atmospheric aerosol

A novel ultrasound-assisted derivatization followed by GC/MS analysis was developed for the quantification of oxygenated organic species in ambient aerosol. Derivatization parameters mostly influencing the analytical response were investigated, i.e., solvent type, reagent concentration, and reaction duration. Response surface methodology was used to design experiments and a quadratic model was utilized to predict the variables and establish the optimal conditions. The study was performed on standard solutions of 30 compounds representing the major classes of oxygenated compounds typically found in ambient aerosol, i.e., low molecular weight carboxylic acids, sugars, and phenols. In comparison with conventional methods, the optimized procedure uses mild reaction temperature (room temperature instead of 70 °C), reduces the amount of silyl reagent (24 vs. 40 μL), and shortens derivatization times (45 vs. 70 min), participating in the current trend of analytical chemistry towards clean, green methods that reduce costs and decrease pollution. Once optimized, the ultrasound procedure was validated by assessing for repeatability, linearity, detection limits, and derivative stability. For all oxygenated organic species, the proposed method showed a good reproducibility—as the relative standard deviations (RSDs%, n = 5) of intra-day analysis were ≤7% — a good linearity with the correlation coefficients of calibration curves R2 ≥ 99.8, and low detection limits, ranging from 0.34 to 6.50 ng μL−1; thus it is suitable for its applicability in air quality monitoring. Finally, this method was successfully applied to determine 30 oxygenated organic species in three ambient PM2.5 samples collected at an urban site in Northern Italy in three different seasons. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].