APPLICATION OF CONTINUOUS-FLOW HPLC PROTON NUCLEAR-MAGNETIC-RESONANCESPECTROSCOPY AND HPLC THERMOSPRAY MASS-SPECTROSCOPY FOR THE STRUCTURAL ELUCIDATION OF PHOTOTRANSFORMATION PRODUCTS OF 2,4,6-TRINITROTOLUENE

An aqueous solution of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) was irradiated by n atural sunlight for a period of 1 month to generate phototransformatio n products of this compound, After solid-phase extraction on a poly(st yryene-divinyl-benzene) copolymer at pH 1, the structures of several a cidic nitroaromatic compounds were identified by means of continuous-n ow HPLC/H-1 NMR and HPLC/TSP-MS measurements of this ex tract. By inte rpretation of both NMR and MS spectra, it was even possible to charact erize noncommercially available phototransformation products of TNT. T he results obtained by continuous-now HPLC/H-1 NMR were compared with those obtained by the investigation of a groundwater sample of a forme r ammunition site near Elsnig, Germany. The results show that several identified phototransformation products of TWT are also present in thi s groundwater sample.