Determination of 1-Alkene-1, 3-sultones in Anionic Surfactants by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

A procedure for the analysis of 1-alkene-1, 3-sultones, found in certain anionic surfactants as skin sensitizers was devised. These sultones are separated from surfactants by diethyl ether extraction, concentrated by preparative HPLC, and determined by GC-MS using negative ion chemical ionization and selected ion monitoring. Very small amounts of 1-alkene-1, 3-sultones are detectable, with a detection limit of 0.2ng.