Multi-alkylated Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons of Tobacco Smoke: Separation and Identification

The methyl, multi-methyl, and ethyl derivatives of the polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) of cigarette smoke condensate (CSC) were isolated from the neutrals by silicic acid chromatography, solvent partitioning and gel chromatography. The procedure yielded a relatively pure PAH isolate amenable to further identifications. The multi-alkylated PAH were concentrated in the early gel fractions with parent and higher ring PAH found in subsequent gel fractions. It was shown that CSC is very rich in alkylated PAH, and their successful identification required extensive use of gas and liquid chromatography and ultra-violet and GC - mass spectrometric techniques. High-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) separated individual isomers of the alkylated PAH in complex GC peaks. PAH from indene to pentamethylchrysene were found. This report concludes our identification studies on the PAH of CSC and complements our two previous reports in this journal. Collectively, our studies have identified approximately 1000 PAH of cigarette smoke condensate and have led to the development of methods for the routine quantitation of PAH in smalI quantities of cigarette smoke condensate.