Determination of stable carbon isotopic compositions of low molecular weight dicarboxylic acids and ketocarboxylic acids in atmospheric aerosol and snow samples.

We report a new method developed for the determination of stable carbon isotopic composition of homologous alpha,omega-dicarboxylic acids and phthalic acid isolated from environmental samples such as atmospheric aerosols and snow. Dicarboxylic acids are derivatized with BF3/1-butanol to dibutyl esters, which are analyzed for the stable carbon isotopic composition using a capillary GC interfaced to on-line combustion isotope ratio mass spectrometer. The delta13C values for individual dicarboxylic acid are then calculated from delta13C of 1-butanol and butyl ester derivative using a mass balance equation. The accuracy of the delta13C measurement for C2-C10 diacids is within 0.8 per thousand. We report a few examples of the delta13C ratios of saturated C2-C9 alpha,omega-dicarboxylic acids, unsaturated (maleic, phthalic) diacids, and oxocarboxylic acids in the aerosol and snow samples.