Highly sensitive detection method of dibenzyl disulfide and the elucidation of the mechanism

Highly sensitive detection method of dibenzyl disulfide (DBDS) in insulation oil was realized using solid phase extraction (SPE) with active alumina adsorbent followed by gas chromatography equipped with a mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The detection limit of DBDS is around 0.1 ppm. This method is also useful for detecting bibenzyl (BiBZ) and dibenzyl sulfide (DBS). The good relationship between the weight change of copper strip and BiBZ /DBS formation was obtained under heating with insulating oil containing DBDS and copper strip, so it was clarified that BiBZ and DBS are the byproducts of the copper sulfide generation with the chemical reaction between DBDS and copper. The chemical reaction formula between DBDS and copper was proposed based on the assumption that copper sulfide should be generated via Cu-DBDS complex. The temperature dependence of the weight change of copper strip before and after the heating in the insulating oil containing DBDS was quantitatively explained with the chemical reaction formula.