NCJ Number
139766
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 37 Issue: 6 Dated: (November 1992) Pages: 1574-1584
Date Published
1992
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article describes the forensic characterization of various samples of TNT (trinitrotoluene) with the use of extraction followed by normal phase liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection.
Abstract
A number of methods for extracting, concentrating, and analyzing the impurities and manufacturing byproducts present in TNT have been developed. Once the TNT samples are prepared, various methods that can be used to analyze the material include mass spectrometry, gas chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance, and liquid chromatography. Although the goal in these types of analyses has been to examine ways to define the sets of impurities present in TNT, little work has been done in the analysis of collected samples so as to determine points of comparison and analysis. The goal for the project described in this article was to define a reproducible procedure by which selected TNT samples can be analyzed and the analytical data stored for later retrieval. Once these data have been compiled, unknown samples collected at a later date can be analyzed to determine if they are similar to previously examined TNT samples. For the analyses described in this article, an extract of the samples was performed with a modification of the procedure described by Basch and Kraus. The samples were next analyzed by liquid chromatography. This method was chosen due to the large amount of TNT present in the samples and because the use of diode array detection was expected to enable impurities from one sample to the next to be easily tracked. This article describes materials and methods, data reduction, diode array detection, sample stability, and chemometrics. 6 figures and 11 references