Quantification of Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds with a Flame Ionization Detector Using the Effective Carbon Number Concept

Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) are emitted into the atmosphere by plants and include structurally complex organic molecules such as monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, and their oxygenated derivatives. These BVOCs are among the principle factors influencing the oxidative capacity of the atmosphere in forested regions. BVOC emission rates are often measured by collecting samples onto adsorptive cartridges in the field and then transporting these samples to the laboratory for chromatographic analysis. One of the most commonly used detectors in gas chromatography is the flame ionization detector (FID) due to its broad linear range, high sensitivity, and predictable response to many compounds. The FID response to saturated aliphatic molecules is proportional to carbon number. However, deviations occur as the complexity of the molecular structure increases. To account for these deviations, Sternberg et al. (1962) developed the effective carbon number (ECN) concept, which describes the number of carbons the FID "effectively" responds to. The ECN of a complex molecule can be estimated from the number and type of functional groups present, allowing an estimate of relative response factors for quantification. This approach is particularly useful for applications where samples contain a mixture of organic compounds and standards are not realistically accessible- a common predicament for environmental measurements. ECNs for a limited number of compounds with varying functional groups have been quantified in previous studies. However, there remain large gaps in the variety of compounds for which published data are available. This results in higher than necessary uncertainties when quantifying compounds that are structurally dissimilar to those that have been reported in the literature. The purpose of this study was to determine the ECN for a variety of terpenoid compounds to enable improved quantification of BVOC measurements. A dynamic dilution system was developed to make quantitative gas standards of VOCs with mixing ratios from 20-55 ppb. For each experiment using this system, one terpene standard was co-injected with an internal reference, n-octane, and analyzed via an automated cryofocusing system interfaced to a gas chromatograph flame ionization detector and mass spectrometer (GC/MS/FID). The MS and FID were used for identification and quantification respectively. The ECNs of approximately 18 BVOC compounds were evaluated with this approach, with each test compound analyzed at least three times. The results from these experiments will be compared to the compounds' actual carbon number as well as to ECN estimates from literature values. Preliminary results indicate that the difference between the actual carbon number and the measured ECN ranged from -10% to -2%. The difference between the estimated ECN and measured ECN ranged from -6% to 14%. The effect of the terpene molecular structure on the ECN will be discussed within the context of the flame ionization reaction mechanism to explain these discrepancies.