Preconcentration and analysis of trace volatile carbonyl compounds

We describe a preconcentration device that may be suitable for quantitative analysis of trace volatile ketones and aldehydes in ambient air as well as in human breath. The approach is based on microreactor chips fabricated from silicon wafers. The microreactors have thousands of micropillars in microfluidic channels for uniformly distributing a gaseous sample flowing through the chips. The surfaces of the micropillars are functionalized with a quaternary ammonium aminooxy salt, [2-(aminooxy)ethyl]-N,N,N-trimethylammonium iodide (ATM), for trapping trace ketones and aldehydes by means of oximation reactions. ATM adducts and unreacted ATM are eluted from the microreactor with less than 40 μL of methanol and directly analyzed by nanospray Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) mass spectrometry (MS). Ketones and aldehydes at levels of 1 ppbv have been detected using this microreactor and FTICR-MS system.