On the co-elution of benzo[]pyrene and dibenzo[,]pyrene in chromatographic fractions and their unambiguous determination in tobacco extracts laser-excited time resolved Shpol'skii spectroscopy

• Published in: Analytical methods Vol. 15; no. 16; pp. 1959 - 1968
• Main Authors: Comas, Ahmed, Santana, Anthony, Campiglia, Andres D
• Format: Journal Article
• Published: 27.04.2023
• ISSN: 1759-9660; 1759-9679
• DOI: 10.1039/d2ay02064e

High performance liquid chromatography is widely used for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a wide variety of samples. Of particular concern are benzo[ a ]pyrene and dibenzo[ a , l ]pyrene, two of the most toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ever tested. Under EPA method 610, these two compounds co-elute with almost identical retention times. Our studies demonstrate the feasibility of directly determining them in a chromatographic fraction without further separation. Their unambiguous determination is based on spectral and lifetime information with a two-step experimental procedure consisting of the evaporation of the chromatographic fraction followed by the dissolution of the residue with microliters of n -octane. With the aid of a 77 K fiber optic probe, limits of detection at the parts-per-billion concentration level (ng mL −1 ) are obtained from the microliter sample via laser excited time resolved Shpol'skii spectroscopy. This approach is then applied to the analysis of benzo[ a ]pyrene and dibenzo[ a , l ]pyrene in tobacco extracts. High performance liquid chromatography is widely used for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a wide variety of samples.