Chromatographic and spectroscopic analysis of Dibenzo[b,l]Fluoranthene and its determination in SRM 1597a by laser-excited time-resolved Shpol'skii spectroscopy

Anthony M Santana; Ahmed Comas; Gavin S Mohammad-Pour; Fernando J Uribe-Romo; Andres D Campiglia

doi:10.1016/j.aca.2023.341835

Chromatographic and spectroscopic analysis of Dibenzo[b,l]Fluoranthene and its determination in SRM 1597a by laser-excited time-resolved Shpol'skii spectroscopy

Anal Chim Acta. 2023 Oct 23:1279:341835. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2023.341835. Epub 2023 Sep 20.

Authors

Anthony M Santana¹, Ahmed Comas¹, Gavin S Mohammad-Pour¹, Fernando J Uribe-Romo¹, Andres D Campiglia²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Physical Science Room 255, Orlando, Fl, 32816-8005, United States.
² Department of Chemistry, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Physical Science Room 255, Orlando, Fl, 32816-8005, United States. Electronic address: andres.campiglia@ucf.edu.

PMID: 37827650
DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2023.341835

Abstract

Background: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with molecular mass 302 Da are the most investigated PAHs within the high molecular weight PAHs class. This PAH class contributes to a significant portion of the mutagenic and/or carcinogenic response associated to the PAH fraction present in environmental and combustion-related samples. Several reasons prevent the routine analysis of 302 Da PAHs in environmental samples, including large number of possible isomers, limited number of commercially available reference standards, and low concentration levels.

Results: These studies search for a newly synthetized dibenzo-fluoranthene of molecular mass 302 Da, namely dibenzo[b,l]fluoranthene, in a standard reference material (SRM 1597a) from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The eluting behavior of dibenzo[b,l]fluoranthene is investigated under reversed-phase liquid chromatographic conditions for its determination via absorption and fluorescence detection. Vibrationally resolved spectra and fluorescence lifetimes recorded from octane matrices at 77 K and 4.2 K allow for its qualitative and quantitative analysis at the parts-per-trillion concentration levels. Its unambiguous determination is then reported for the first time in the SRM 1597a.

Significance and novelty: Of the 89 possible 302 Da PAH isomers, only 23 isomers have been identified in SRMs and/or environmental samples. The determination of dibenzo[b,l]fluoranthene in the SRM 1597a takes a step forward to fulfilling this gap.

Keywords: 302 Da PAH isomers; HPLC-LETRSS analysis; Low temperature fluorescence; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Shpol'skii spectroscopy.