Qualitative Analysis of Bioaerosol Chemical Composition and Shift by Means of 1HNMR

PALINA BAHDANOVICH, Kevin Axelrod, Andrey Khlystov, Vera Samburova, Desert Research Institute

     Abstract Number: 563
     Working Group: Bioaerosols

Abstract
The goal of this research is characterizing the chemical composition of bioaerosols using multiple analytical techniques, such as Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1HNMR), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-Vis Spectroscopy, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), and Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-MS), thereby advancing atmospheric aerosol chemistry. Various common bioaerosols, including pollen, algae, fungi, and bacteria, are analyzed and characterized under controlled laboratory conditions. This blueprint is also used for characterizing bioaerosols collected on ambient filter samples in Northern Nevada and California. All samples (laboratory-controlled and ambient) are analyzed for their chemical composition: saccharides and polar organic acids with GC-MS, amino acids with UPLC-MS, and functional groups with 1HNMR spectroscopy.

Assessment of the relative abundance of different functional groups is particularly useful in determining chemical nature (e.g., polarity) of analyzed bioaerosols. 1HNMR technique has been used for analysis of atmospheric aerosols, especially, for aerosols of anthropogenic origin. The present research is one of the first studies on detailed chemical characterization of bioaerosols with 1HNMR technique, where the 1HNMR results will be also compared with GC- and UPLC-MS quantitative analyses of individual bioaerosols organic species. Figure 1 shows the fractional distribution of major function groups identified in one of the 1HNMR spectra of a pollen extract (Pinus contorta) prepared in dimethyl sulfoxide-d6 (DMSO-d6). Analysis of 1HNMR spectra of pollen, fungi, algae, and bacteria bioaerosol extracts will be presented.