Abstract
After liquid chromatographic (LC) separation, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI‐MS) was investigated for the determination of the amphoteric surfactant cocamidopropylbetaine (CAPB). In the positive ion mode the molecule formed the adduct ions [M + H]^+^, [M + Na]^+^ and [M + K]^+^. Adducts of these cations were also detected with decreasing abundance as dimer and trimer clusters. Additionally, doubly charged molecular ions with different combinations of cations were identified. It was noticed that the relative abundances of individual cation adducts were not reproducible, apparently owing to varying contents of alkali metal ions originating from the solvent and the sample. Under negative ionization, the major molecular ion was [M − H]^−^. Higher clusters formed by two and three surfactant molecules, i.e. [2M − H]^−^ and [3M − H]^−^ were likewise registered. The tendency to form clusters in both positive and negative ion modes, even at 0.1 mg l^−1^ levels, was attributed to strong electrostatic interactions between the zwitterionic head groups. Further evidence for this assumption was provided by the detection of a fragment formed from [2M − H]^−^ which contained the two charged head groups. Studies were undertaken in the negative ion mode on the concentration‐ and orifice voltage‐dependent monomer, dimer and trimer formation of C~12~‐CAPB in order to evaluate potential issues in using the ion [M − H]^−^ mode for quantitative analysis. Finally, the established (−)‐LC/ESI‐MS method was applied to follow up the primary degradation of CAPB in a laboratory‐scale fixed‐bed bioreactor (FBBR) spiked with a test concentration of 10 mg l^−1^. Direct analysis without sample pretreatment revealed that higher alkyl homologues were more prone to adsorption. Primary biodegradation of all alkyl homologues was completed after a period of 4 days. Selected lyophilized FBBR samples were examined for the presence of transient or stable degradation intermediates, but no metabolite could be identified. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.