Detection and confirmation of N-nitrosodialkylamines using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization coupled on-line with a photolysis reactor

Simultaneous detection and confirmation of several N-nitrosodialkylamines are accomplished by on-line coupling of a photolysis reactor with an HPLC-electrospray ionization mass spectrometer. Several parameters such as irradiation wavelength, irradiation time, mobile-phase composition, and pH, as well as different organic acid modifiers are investigated, and their impact on the detection of the N-nitrosodialkylamine-acid complex and its dissociative photolysis products is presented here. Additionally, the type of structural information obtained from the photolytic processes of N-nitrosodialkylamines is compared to that obtained by using in-source collision-induced dissociation. To demonstrate the potential of this technique, six N-nitrosodialkylamines are studied to determine the linearity of the response, the limits of detection and confirmation, and the reproducibility. The technique's versatility is also exhibited by utilizing negative-ion mode as a complementary means for analysis of the compounds. Finally, an illustrative application for N-nitrosodimethylamine analysis in beer is described.