Identification and quantification of six-ring C₂₆H₁₆ cata-condensed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a complex mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from coal tar

We applied a combination of normal-phase liquid chromatography (NPLC) with ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) for the fractionation, identification, and quantification of six ring C₂₆H₁₆ cata-condensed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs, in the Standard Reference Material 1597a, Complex Mixture of PAHs from Coal Tar. For the characterization analysis, we calculated the GC retention indices of 17 C₂₆H₁₆ PAH authentic reference standards using the Rxi-PAH and DB-5 GC columns. Then, we used NPLC with ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy to isolate the fractions containing the C₂₆H₁₆ PAHs, and subsequently, we used GC/MS to establish the identity and quantity of the C₂₆H₁₆ PAHs using authentic reference standards. Following this procedure, 12 C₂₆H₁₆ cata-condensed PAHs benzo[c]pentaphene, dibenzo[f,k]tetraphene, benzo[h]pentaphene, dibenzo[a,l]tetracene, dibenzo[c,k]tetraphene, naphtho[2,3-c]tetraphene, dibenzo[a,c]tetracene, benzo[b]picene, dibenzo[a,j]tetracene, naphtho[2,1-a]tetracene, dibenzo[c,p]chrysene, and dibenzo[a,f]tetraphene were identified and quantified for the first time, and benzo[c]picene was quantified for the first time in an environmental combustion sample.