Solving coelution problems on a smectic liquid crystalline polysiloxane capillary column for the determination of priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental samples

A comparison of the separation efficiency of a liquid-crystalline polysiloxane capillary column (smectic phase) and a DB-5 column (5% phenyl-substituted methyl polysiloxane) is made for the analysis of the 16 US Environmental Protection Agency polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and three isomeric, nonpriority PAHs (triphenylene, benzo[i]fluoranthene and dibenzo[a,c]anthracene) which have been shown to occur in environmental samples. The three isomeric compounds which coelute on the DB-5 column are well separated on the smectic phase. The analysis of a soil sample shows that some priority PAHs tend to be overestimated on DB-5 type columns. The smectic phase is therefore an attractive alternative for confirmation and correction of final quantitative results. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.