The negative ion electrospray ionization mass spectrometric (ESI-MS) detection of adducts of high explosives with chloride, formate, acetate, and nitrate was used to demonstrate the gas-phase interaction of neutral explosives with these anions. The relative intensities of the adduct species were determined to compare the competitive formation of the selected high explosives and anions. The relative stability of the adduct species varies, yielding preferential formation of certain anionic adducts with different high explosives. To exploit this effect, an isocratic high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)/ESI-MS method was developed and used for the simultaneous analysis of high explosives using two different techniques for the addition of the anionic additives; pre- and post-column. The results show that the pre-column approach provides similar results with improved selectivity for specific explosives. By detecting characteristic adduct species for each explosive, this method provides a qualitative and quantitative approach for the analysis and identification of high explosives.

The solubility of ethylbenzene, m-xylene, and benzene in water was determined using a laboratory-made system at temperatures ranging from 298 K to 473 K and a pressure of 50 bars. The solubility was enhanced by at least 1 order of magnitude by increasing the temperature from ambient to 473 K. A simple approximation model was developed to predict the solubility of liquid organics in high-temperature water. This model delivers an excellent estimation of the solubility of small molecules of liquid organic compounds in water at temperatures at or higher than 373 K.

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