Development of an LC/MS method for the trace analysis of hexamethylenetriperoxidediamine (HMTD)

The detection and quantification of trace amounts of hexamethylenetriperoxidediamine (HMTD), a primary organic peroxide explosive, is investigated by LC/MS. LC/MS is well suited to the analysis of explosive compounds, such as HMTD, that are thermally labile. This property of HMTD has prevented other chromatography separation techniques, such as GC/MS, from being successfully employed for the analysis of HMTD. In this paper, the development of an LC/MS method capable of detecting trace quantities of HMTD is described. Potentially, the method is capable of being used to detect a lower detection limit of 20 pg µl−1 (2 ng per 100 µl) of HMTD. In comparison to other chromatography separation techniques that are used for analysis of explosives and explosive mixtures, e.g. GC/MS and GC/TEA, this represents an extremely valuable technique.