MS/MS analysis of diesel emissions and fuels treated with NO2

Correlations between direct-acting mutagens in diesel emissions and the activity of nitroaromatic compounds have been noted, but detection and identification of nitro-compounds in diesel particulates has remained an elusive problem. In the results reported here, MS/MS (tandem mass spectrometry) was found to detect nitroaromatic compounds in fractionated and unfractionated diesel soot extracts. The nitro-compounds detected ranged from two- to four-ring polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon derivatives and were primarily mono-nitro derivatives. An aromatic fraction from diesel fuel reacted with NO2 resembled diesel exhaust extracts from an engine operating on the same fuel. Therefore, it is possible that nitroaromatic derivatives in diesel exhaust may be in part due to unburned fuel residues reacting with NO chi formed in the combustion process. The utility of MS/MS in comparing complex mixtures from different sources or subfractions thereof is discussed.