Mass spectrometric identification of cyclic polysulfides in sediment of the Eastern Gulf of Finland. I

Structures of six cyclic polysulfides, previously unknown as organic environmental pollutants, were analyzed from a sediment sample from the Eastern Gulf of Finland. The determinations were done by gas chromatography connected to mass spectrometry. High resolution (HRMS) measurements of the isotopic composition of four compounds could be done to confirm their molecular formulae. Total low resolution (LRMS) spectra were used to elucidate structures of all six compounds by thermochemical approach, application of fragmentation rules and by ICLU simulation of the spectra. The compounds were deduced to be (in the order of GC- retention) 1,2,4-trithiacycloheptane, tetrathiacyclopentane, 1,2,4,5-tetrathia-cyclohexane, 1,2,3,4- tetrathiacycloheptane, 1,2,3,4-tetrathiacyclohexane and 1,2,4,6-tetrathiacyclooctane.