Pentafluorobenzyl derivatives for the gas chromatographic determination of hydroxy-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban aerosols

Critical factors in chemical characterization for the evaluation of decontamination in solids using advanced oxidation

Advanced oxidation technologies (AOT) have been applied to the treatment of numerous organic pollutants embedded in solid matrices (e.g., soil, sediments, sludge, etc.). Given potentially strong matrix-analyte interactions in solids, chemical characterization of both the target contaminants and their oxidation products is critical for the evaluation of any decontamination method. The success of AOT applications has been evaluated either directly (based on the removal of original contaminants, extent of mineralization, and/or formation of by-products), or indirectly, e.g., based on toxicity or chemical oxygen demand. Since indirect methods do not provide comprehensive understanding of the pollutants' fate, direct analytical approaches are covered in this review while focusing on sample preparation and detailed chromatographic characterization, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of these methods. The significance of sample preparation, in particular extraction, is discussed with respect to the nature of matrix-analyte interactions, as those may also affect the selection of the remediation method. The ultimate goal of this review is the presentation of methods employed to achieve mass balance closure, which is essential to ensure the full understanding of degradation pathways.

Determination of Hydroxylated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Airborne Particulates by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Fluorescence Detection

This paper describes a highly sensitive and selective method for the determination of hydroxylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs-OH) in airborne particulates. PAHs-OH were extracted from airborne particulates with ethanol by ultrasonication. The extractant was further cleaned up by solid phase extraction (SPE) with an aminopropylsilica cartridge, and subsequently analyzed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. 2-Hydroxy-1-acetonaphthone was used as an internal standard. By the proposed method, 2-hydroxyfluorene and 1-hydroxypyrene were identified in airborne particulates and their concentrations were determined for the first time.

Electron-capture detection: difluorobenzyl and related electrophores

Difluorobenzyl derivatives (several isomers were tested) of 4-hydroxyacetophenone were synthesized and found to have similar properties (retention and response) by both reversed-phase HPLC and GC-ECD relative to each other, and also relative to that of a corresponding conventional pentafluorobenzyl derivative. The same was true for a representative difluorobenzyl derivative of thymine and 1-naphthoic acid. Overall, the responses by GC-ECD for the same core structure were only about two- to four-fold lower for a difluorobenzyl compared to a corresponding pentafluorobenzyl derivative. This makes a difluorobenzyl derivative attractive as an HPLC-UV retention marker, and sometimes as a substitute for a pentafluorobenzyl derivative (to help overcome an interference) in a method based on detection by electron capture. We also observed, somewhat as an aside, that the GC-ECD response of the benzyl derivative of 4-hydroxyacetophenone was only seven-fold lower than that of the corresponding pentafluorobenzyl derivative, and that this former benzyl derivative gave a 2.10(4) higher response than acetophenone. Thus, replacing the ring hydrogen atoms of a benzyl group with fluorine atoms had a relatively small impact on both the hydrophobicity and electron capture properties of the compounds tested here.