Identification and quantification of seven fused aromatic rings C26H14peri-condensed benzenoid polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a complex mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from coal tar

• NPLC/UV–vis and GC/MS used to characterize C26H14 PAHs in a mixture from coal tar.
• Annellation theory and ZINDO/S used for theoretical analysis of C26H14 PAHs.
• First identification and quantification of 5C26H14 with reference standards available.
• First potential identification of 4C26H14 with reference standards not available.
• The advantage of fractionation versus non-fractionation approach was demonstrated

A methodology for the characterization of groups of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using a combination of normal phase liquid chromatography with ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (NPLC/UV–vis) and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used for the identification and quantification of seven fused aromatic rings C26H14peri-condensed benzenoid polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs, in standard reference material (SRM) 1597a, complex mixture of PAHs from coal tar. The NPLC/UV–vis isolated the fractions based on the number of aromatic carbons and the GC/MS allowed the identification and quantification of five of the nine C26H14 PAH isomers; naphtho[1,2,3,4-ghi]perylene, dibenzo[b,ghi]perylene, dibenzo[b,pqr]perylene, naphtho[8,1,2-bcd]perylene, and dibenzo[cd,lm]perylene using a retention time comparison with authentic reference standards. For the other four benzenoid isomers with no available reference standards the following two approaches were used. First, the annellation theory was used to achieve the potential identification of benzo[qr]naphtho[3,2,1,8-defg]chrysene, and second, the elution distribution in the GC fractions was used to support the potential identification of benzo[qr]naphtho[3,2,1,8-defg]chrysene and to reach the tentative identifications of dibenzo[a,ghi]perylene, naphtho[7,8,1,2,3-pqrst]pentaphene, and anthra[2,1,9,8-opqra]naphthacene. It is the first time that naphtho[1,2,3,4-ghi]perylene, dibenzo[b,ghi]perylene, dibenzo[b,pqr]perylene, naphtho[8,1,2-bcd]perylene, and dibenzo[cd,lm]perylene are quantified, and the first time that benzo[qr]naphtho[3,2,1,8-defg]chrysene is potentially identified, in any sample, in any context.