We present work detailing the destruction of the nerve agent simulant diisopropyl methylphosphonate (DIMP) via rapid laser heating under atmospheric conditions. Following Nd:YAG laser ablation of liquid DIMP deposited on a graphite substrate, both parent and product fragments are transmitted via capillary from an atmospheric chamber to a vacuum chamber containing a high-resolution mass spectrometer. This allows for real-time measurements of product distributions under a variety of temperature and atmospheric conditions. Ex situ Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis of the same chamber contents provides complementary information about product identities and fragmentation pathways. Results demonstrate that product distributions depend on heating rate, surface temperature, and atmospheric oxygen content. In the destruction of the DIMP, the relative yields of alkene products depends significantly on laser power; smaller products are relatively more abundant at higher ablation temperatures. We also show that in the absence of atmospheric oxygen, the concentration of oxygenated products decreases sharply relative to alkene and alkane products. This suggests that under high-temperature conditions, atmospheric oxygen is incorporated directly into the products of the fragmented simulant. This project extends significantly our understanding of the fundamental chemistry of these dangerous compounds under atmospheric and rapidly changing thermal conditions. The results have critical implications for the development of effective chemical warfare agent decontamination and destruction strategies.
†R.S.T. and M.R.B. contributed equally to this work and are co-first authors of this manuscript.