Concentration and clean-up of trace hydrocarbons from atmospheric particulate matter

Summary The aim of this work is to establish the best conditions for concentration and purification steps in the trace analysis of aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) from atmospheric particulate matter by gas chromatography-flame ionisation detection (GC-FID) and high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet and fluorescence detection (HPLC-UV-FL). The best results for the more volatile compound were obtained with a combination of rotary evaporation and a stream of nitrogen (near to 100% for aliphatic hydrocarbons and from 70 to 105% for PAH). Two types of solid phase extraction (SPE)cartridges (Supelclean ^tm LC-Silica SPE tubes and Sep-Pak^? Plus silica cartridges) and glass column were examined for the purification and fractionation step. Blank chromatograms of both types of cartridges analysed by GC-FID made this study difficult, because a PSS (programmed split-splitless) injector was employed thereby increasing the sensitivity. This problem was not observed in the HPLC-UV-FL blank chromatograms of these cartridges. Glass columns filled with silica and alumina were chosen because no interference was found in the GC-FID blank chromatograms and the best recoveries in the fractionation of both aliphatic hydrocarbons and PAH were achieved. This is especially important when aliphatic hydrocarbons concentrations are lower than 1 μg mL⁻¹. Finally, the selected conditions were applied to the analysis of hydrocarbons in real atmospheric particulate samples.     

以国产微晶纤维素膜作固体基质五种多环芳烃的室温磷光法研究

本文考察了10种国产纤维素膜用于多环芳烃固体基质室温磷光(SS-RTP)的可行性。实验表明:MN-C和MN-P两种型号的微晶纤维素膜用于多环芳烃的SS-RTP是适宜的。阴离子交换纤维素膜、CM-纤维素膜和聚酰胺-6膜也能诱导出多环芳烃的RTP来,但其性能逊于前两种。故本文应用MN-C和MN-P两种微晶纤维素膜基质考察了五种多环芳烃的RTP特征,并建立了它们的SS-RTP新方法。并与用滤纸作基质的实验结果进行了比较,表明两种新的固体基质的RTP性能优于滤纸基质。     

Semiempirical calculation of electronic spectra of organic compounds by using the improved method of new-γ electron repulsion integral. Part 2. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)

Excitation energies of 123 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were calculated by incorporating the improved method of new-γ for the two-center electron repulsion integral into two semiempirical molecular orbital methods (CNDO/S and INDO/S). This variable method well reproduced experimental excitation energies of them. The average error of the improvement is about 0.162 (CNDO/S) or 0.237 eV (INDO/S) though the average error without the improvement is about 0.541 (CNDO/S) or 0.536 eV (INDO/S). The improvement was useful for the calculations of other organic compounds including hetero atoms, such as organic dye.     

The correlation between molecular polarizability of PAHs and their retention data on various stationary phases in reversed-phase HPLC

Summary The equation for the potential energy of interactions established for gas-liquid chromatography has been confirmed in reversed phase liquid chromatography. Equations derived for molecular polarizabilities of PAHs and their retention data have very high correlation coefficients. The results indicate that the inductive effect between solute and stationary phase is the main one and the dispersive effect is very small compared with the inductive effect but its contribution increases with the carbon chain length of the stationary phase.     

Vapor-particle partitioning of hydrocarbons in Western Mediterranean urban and marine atmospheres

An analytical procedure is described for a comprehensive determination of the composition of hydrocarbons in the atmosphere, based on: (a) aerosol filtration and subsequent adsorption of the vapor phase onto active charcoal and polyurethane foam; (b) GPC and HPLC fractionation of the extracts, and (c) analysis of the fractions by GC-MS under EI and NICI modes. Special emphasis is placed onn-alkanes, PAHs and their oxygenated derivatives.The characterization of samples collected in a coastal urban area (Barcelona city), and far away over the Western Mediterranean, at sea level and at 1100 m of altitude, revealed significant changes in the aerosol composition, mainly attributed to initial vapor-particle partitioning processes, influenced by ambient temperature variations, and to others taking place during long-range atmospheric transport, related with the different compound photoreactivities and with an unexplained source-decoupling phenomenon.     

Own N-layered integrated molecular orbital and molecular mechanics study of the reaction of OH<Superscript>−</Superscript> with polychlorinated hydrocarbons CH<Subscript>(4−n)</Subscript>Cl<Subscript>n</Subscript> (n=2–4)

The reliability of the two-layer own N-layered integrated molecular orbital and molecular mechanics (ONIOM) method was examined for the S_N2 reaction CH_(4–n)Cl_n+OH^–. In the ONIOM calculation, only the methyl chloride and OH^–were treated at a high level and the effect of polychlorination was taken into account only at a low level. The ONIOM results were compared with the target CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVDZ//MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ results obtained by Borisov etal. [(2001) J. Phys. Chem. A 105:7724]. The ONIOM[MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ:B3LYP/6-31+G(d)] was found to reproduce well the target geometry and energy at the MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ level. The single-point improved energetics at the ONIOM[CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVDZ:MP2/6-31+G(d)] is found to give results nearly as accurate as the target CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVDZ//MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ results. The substantially reduced cost, 20% for optimization and 5% for single-point improved energy of the target cost for n=4, as well as small errors suggest that ONIOM is a powerful tool for accurate potential-energy surfaces of the reaction of large polyhalohydrocarbons.     

Fluidized-bed extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from contaminated soil samples

Summary Due to the carcinogenity and ubiquity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the environment they are of ongoing interest to analytical chemistry. In this study, a comparison of the classic Soxhlet extraction and, fluidized-bed extraction, has been conducted. The extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by this technique has been optimized considering as experimental variables the variation of the number of extraction cycles and the holding time after reaching the heating temperature by means of a surface response design. The significance of the operational parameters of the fluidized-bed extraction on the performance characteristics has been investigated. For the determination of the analytes a selective clean-up of the extracts followed by a fast gas chromatography method with mass spectrometric detection was used, resulting in low limits of detection (0.2 pg μL⁻¹). The accuracy of the complete analytical method was established by extraction and analysis of reference materials.     

Elution of organic solutes from different polarity sorbents using subcritical water

The intermolecular interactions between organic solutes and sorbent matrices under subcritical water conditions have been investigated at a pressure of 50 bar and temperatures ranging from 50 to 250°C. Both polar and nonpolar organics (chlorophenols, amines, n-alkanes, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and five different sorbent matrices (glass beads, alumina, Florisil, silica-bonded C₁₈, and polymeric XAD-4 resins) were used. From the same matrix, the polar solutes always eluted at lower temperatures, while the moderately polar and nonpolar solutes only eluted at higher temperatures. Similar to matrix effects previously observed using supercritical carbon dioxide, the sorbent type greatly influenced the elution efficiency under subcritical water conditions. Lower temperatures are sufficient to elute a particular solute from glass beads, alumina, and Florisil, but higher temperatures (less polar water) are needed to elute the same solute from silica-bonded C₁₈. The highest temperatures were required to elute aromatic organics from XAD-4. These matrix effects demonstrate that, while low temperature water can break inert or dipole interactions between solutes and glass beads, alumina, and Florisil, higher temperature water is required to interrupt the van der Waals attractions between solutes and silica-bonded C₁₈, and even higher temperatures needed to overcome the π-electron interactions between aromatic solutes and XAD-4.     

分子诱导效应指数与链烷烃的沸点

利用基团的诱导效应指数，首次提出了分子的诱导效应指数的概念，并定义了 链烷烃的有效碳链长度NC＝（MIs,N/MIb,N)·N，式中MIs,N,MIb,N分别为直链和支 链异构体的分子诱导效应指数。研究结果表明，链烷烃的沸点Tb(℃）与NC关系是 ：1n(806.5-Tb)=6.9824-0.11431NC^2/3