Use of Mass Spectrometry for Identification and Quantitation of Tensoactive Agents in Synthetic Latex Samples

Separation, characterization and quantification of surfac- tants in different matrices is important due to the continuously in- creasing use of these products in industry and the adverse effects of their degradation products in the environment. However, surfactant separation and identification is a real challenge because of the wide chemical diversity of this type of compounds. In this report, HPLC- UV or HPLC-Evaporative light scattering detector combined with electrospray ionization (infusion)-high resolution mass spectrometry (ESI-HRMS) was used for the study of main components in four com- mercial surfactants. In a second stage, size-exclusion chromatography and off-line ESI-MS were combined for quantification of surfactants in a synthetic latex sample by standard-additions method. This strategy allowed unambiguous determination of the structure of tensoactive agents in commercial products, and further use of obtained data for the selective determination of surfactants in the complex polymeric