Determination of basic azaarenes in aviation kerosene by solid-phase extraction and HPLC-fluorescence detection

SPE in combination with HPLC and fluorescence detection has been used for sensitive determination of six basic azaarenes (7,8-benzoquinoline, 7,9-dimethylbenz[c]acridine, 9-amino-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroacridine, 9-methylacridine, acridine, and dibenz[a,j]acridine) in aviation kerosene (jet fuel). SPE was performed in a single step using a strong cation exchange sorbent. The HPLC system consisted of C18 column with a selected detection program of optimal λ_exc and λ_em. A gradient elution with ACN and phosphate buffer (pH 6.5) at a flow rate of 1 mL/min allowed efficient and fast separation of azaarenes within 15 min. The LOD and LOQ values (S/N ratio 3:1 and 10:1, respectively) were between 0.0013 and 0.021 and from 0.0044 to 0.072 ng per injection. The calibration curves showed linear behavior from the LOQ to 250 μg/L (r² >0.99). For the spiked concentration of 6.0 μg/L, recoveries were from 92 to 107% for jet fuel samples, except for 9-amino-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroacridine, which presented 68% recovery. The proposed method was applied to the quantification of those six basic azaarenes in one commercial kerosene and in three aviation kerosene samples. The presence of 7,8-benzoquinoline (up to 3.2 μg/L) and dibenzo[a,j]acridine (up to 6.3 μg/L) was confirmed in aviation kerosene.