A Method for the Determination of 3,4-Benzopyrene in Tobacco Smoke Condensate / Eine Methode zur Bestimmung von 3,4-Benzpyren in Tabakrauchkondensaten

A method for the determination of condensed aromatic hydrocarbons in tobacco smoke condensate is described. It has specially been developed for the analysis of benzo[a]pyrene but can also be used for isolating other compounds of this group. Due to the small amount of 1-2 g of condensate necessary for the analysis, benzopyrene can be isolated in 1½ to 2 days. In order to arrive at a highly pure benzo[a]pyrene exact separation of all benzo[a]pyrene containing fractions from contaminations is required. Concentration of the aromatic hydrocarbons is done in four stages: 1.Partition between the systems cyclohexane / 90 % methanol and cyclohexane / nitromethane, 2.Column chromatography on silicagel with cyclohexane, 3.Two-phase paper chromatography in the system dimethylformamide / decaline, 4.Column chromatography on alumina with cyclohexane. The yield of benzol(a)pyrene is approx. 70-80 % of the total amount, and according to ultra-violet spectrometry it contains only very few impurities hardly interfering with the spectrum of benzo[a]pyrene between 230 and 400 mµ. Evaluation is done by differentiation of the characteristic maxima and minima of the UV spectrum 298/305 mµ and 387/392 mµ.