DETERMINATION OF S-TRIAZINE METABOLITES - A MASS-SPECTROMETRIC INVESTIGATION

The s-triazine herbicides have highly polar metabolites that often can not be analyzed directly by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-M S). Chemical derivatization may be necessary to improve identification and quantitative analytical methods. The analysis of eight suspected metabolites of two s-triazine herbicides, atrazine loro-4-(ethylamino) -6-(isopropylamino)-s-triazine] and ametryn io)-4-(ethylamino)-6-(isop ropylamino)-s-triazine], was performed in the electron-impact mode by direct inlet system-mass spectrometry (DIS-MS) and by GC-MS, after sam ple derivatization. So far, previous derivatization procedures were ei ther difficult or yielded a mixture of derivatives. By using N-methylb is[trifluoroacetamide] (MBTFA), we obtained only one derivative of eac h metabolite, and the method easily detected microbial degradation-der ived metabolites. Moreover, we identified some frequently present ions that can be used in the analysis of complex samples.