Gradient reversed-phase liquid chromatographic-electrospray ionization mass spectrometric method for the comparison of smokeless powders.

A gradient reversed-phase liquid chromatographic-electrospray ionization mass spectrometric (LC-ESIMS) method was developed to determine compositional variation in the organic additives of smokeless powders. The method was optimized for the separation and detection of selected powder constituents, including diphenylamine, along with isomers of its nitroso and nitro derivatives, centralite I and II, in addition to dialkylphthalate acid esters. A series of commercially available smokeless powders was prepared by organic liquid extraction and characterized using the LC-ESIMS method. The results demonstrate the differentiation of smokeless powders by their additive profile.