Characterization of photodegradation products of alachlor in water by on-line solid-phase extraction liquid chromatography combined with tandem mass spectrometry and orthogonal-acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

On-line solid-phase extraction liquid chromatography in combination with mass spectrometry (MS), i.e. MS/MS and orthogonal-acceleration time-of-flight MS, was used for the characterization of photodegradation products of alachlor in river water. Various MS/MS scan functions were used, in particular the precursor-ion and the daughter-ion modes, to screen for degradation products with structures closely related to that of alachlor and to obtain information on characteristic fragments of the degradation products. Elemental compositions of compounds found and some of their fragments were calculated from the accurate mass information obtained with orthogonal-acceleration time-of-flight MS. Some ten degradation products could be characterized by combining various types of mass spectral information. Since quite a number of isomers were identified, structures of the degradation products were proposed by considering the most likely fragmentation patterns in MS/MS experiments. Degradation products of alachlor found in the current study were compared with those reported in the literature. Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.