Identification of an artifact peak co-eluting with formaldehyde-2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazone derivative by GC-MS and chemometrics

A chemometric approach was utilized to identify an artifact peak co-eluting with formaldehyde-2,4-dinitophenylhydrazone. Application of the methods of principal component analysis to the mass spectra of the formaldehyde-hydrazone peaks collected at 200-280 °C has revealed the presence of two factors contributing to these spectra. Moreover, the use of self-modeling curve resolution (SMCR) techniques has enabled the reconstruction of the spectra of the pure components. One of the identified components that contribute to the spectra of the mixture was formaldehyde-2,4-dintrophenylhydrazone, whereas the other component was 1-amino-2,4-dinitrobenzene, a degradation product of 2,4-dintrophenylhydrazine.