Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Chemistry

Committee Chair

Suzanne Bell

Committee Co-Chair

Jonathan Boyd

Committee Member

Harry Finklea

Abstract

Gas-phase reactions involving methamphetamine, the hydroxyl radical (OH·), and ozone (O3) at (297 +/- 3) K and 1 atmosphere total pressure were investigated. A bimolecular rate constant, kOH·+methamphetamine, (960 +/- 100) x 10 -12 cm3molecule-1s-1, was measured using the relative rate technique for reactions of methamphetamine with OH·. Pseudo first-order techniques were used to measure the bimolecular rate constant, kO3+methamphetamine , (2.7 +/- 0.5) x 10-17 cm3molecule -1s-1 for reactions of methamphetamine with O 3. Product studies to determine the degradation of methamphetamine in the gasphase were conducted and the products of these reactions were identified. The positively identified methamphetamine/OH· and methamphetamine/O 3 reaction products were: benzaldehyde, ethanedial (glyoxal), and 2-oxopropanal (methylglyoxal). The use of derivatizing agent O-(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzyl)hydroxylamine (PFBHA) was used to propose phenyl-2-propanone as the other major methamphetamine/OH· and methamphetamine/O3 reaction product. The elucidation of this other reaction product was facilitated by mass spectrometry of the derivatized reaction products coupled with plausible methamphetamine/OH· and methamphetamine/O 3 reaction mechanisms based on previously published volatile organic compound/OH· and volatile organic compound/O3 gas-phase reaction mechanisms.

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