Characterization of polychlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons by reversed-phase liquid chromatography with ultraviolet absorbance and mass spectrometric detection.

Ten polychlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons (PCAHs), perchlorobenzene (I), perchlorobiphenyl (II), perchlorobenzo[f]inden-1-one (III), perchloronaphthalene (IV), perchloropenta[def]phenanthren-4-one (V), 6H-1,2,4,5,7,8,9,10,11-nonachlorobenzo[cd]pyrene-3-one (VI), perchloroacenaphthylene (VII), 6-(p-tolyl)-6H-1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10,11-decachlorobenzo[cd]pyrene (VIII), perchlorofluoranthene (IX) and 6-(p-tolyl)-6H-1,11-dihydroxy-2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10-octachlorobenzo[cd]pyrene (X) have been separated with reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) by using two gradient eluents (toluene/methanol and cyclohexane/methanol), and were detected by ultraviolet (UV) and mass spectrometry (MS). The separation and detection of half of these ten compounds, which are of extremely high molecular weights, is an improvement over the chromatographic analysis of PCAHs. When the procedure was applied to the analysis of PCAHs of the products from the combustion of chlorobenzene and carbon tetrachloride, I, II, IV, VIII and X could be detected.