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Table 3 Candidate fluorocarbon marker compounds

From: The Mars Science Laboratory Organic Check Material

Name Formula Boiling point (°C) Vapor pressure (Torr) Vapor pressure (Pa) Ref. Comments
n-perfluorononane C9F20 125 11.7×100–16.5×100 1.6×103 3(a) Poor interaction,* too volatile
n-perfluorodecalin C11F20 141 6.8×100–7.3×100 9.1×102–9.7×102 2, 3(a), 3(b) Poor interaction,* too volatile
perfluorotributylamine C12F27N 178 1.32×100 1.8×102 1 Poor interaction,* too volatile
n-perfluorotridecane C13F28 193–196 2.8×10−1 3.7×101 3(a) Poor interaction,* too volatile
n-perfluoro-pentadecane C15F32 228 4.4×10−2 5.9×100 3(a) Poor interaction,* too volatile
n-perfluoroeicosane C20F42 320 0 – 3(a) Poor interaction,* excessive carryover
decafluorobiphenyl C12F10 206 9.8×10−2–3.5×10−1 1.3×101–4.7×101 2, 3(a), 3(b) Poorly retained, too volatile
2,2’-difluorobiphenyl C12H8F2 245–265* 9.8×10−3–4.6×10−2 1.3×100–6.1×100 3(a), 3(b) Well retained
1-fluoronaphthalene C10H7F 215 2.2×10−1 2.9×101 1 Well retained, too volatile
4-fluorobiphenyl C12H9F 310 7.8×10−3–3×10−2 1.0×100–4.0×100 2, 3(a), 3(b) Well retained
3-fluorophenanthrene C14H9F 324–341* 1.5×10−4 2.0×10−2 3b Well retained
1-fluoropyrene C16H9F 369–376* 4.9×10−6 6.5×10−4 3b Well retained
3-fluorochrysene C18H11F 396–440* 7.1×10−7 9.4×10−5 3b Well retained
9-fluorobenzo[k]-fluoranthrene C20H11F 394–470* 7.1×10−7 9.4×10−5 3b Well retained
  1. Data source for vapor pressure at 25 °C: 1, http://www.sigmaaldrich.com; 2, http://www.wolframalpha.com/entities/chemical_vapor_pressures (calculated prediction); 3, http://www.chemspider.com (modeled prediction using (a) ACD Lab’s ACD/PhysChem Suite and (b) EPA’s EPIsuite); 4, http://www.chemyuhao.com. * Poor interaction with GC column stationary phase is due to limited polarizability. This limitation results in the materials being poorly retained in the GC or on the OCM surface. Having a well-resolved GC chromatographic peak is necessary to assure that the OCM could be readily measured and distinguished from potential martian compounds of interest
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