Derivatisation of nerve agent degradants without removal of water

Detection of methylphosphonic acid is used as a marker for potential contamination of organophosphorus nerve agents in the environment. Analysis of this compound is difficult and time-consuming due to the requirement of derivatisation in order to make the compound suitable for GC-MS. A pilot study has found success in derivatizing methylphosphonic acid without requiring the elimination of water however, the efficiency of this method is rather low from the following quantitative study. The reliability of the quantitative study however, is questioned due to the deteriorating concentration over time despite sources stating that methylphosphonic acid is very stable. Irreversible adsorption of the compound onto laboratory equipment was the proposed reasoning behind this observation. Assessing the effects of this phenomenon and evaluating methods to minimise this issue will assist in the development of a more effective and efficient procedure to analyse methylphosphonic acid chromatically