Synthesis, Structure Verification, and Chromatographic Relative Retention Times for Polychlorinated Diphenyl Ethers

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/es00056a024

Fifty-four polychlorinated diphenyl ether (PCDEs) congeners were synthesized, and their structures were confirmed by mass spectrometry and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The gas chromatographic relative retention times (RRT) for the PCDEs were determined relative to a reference standard, <13C-3,3',4,4'>-tetrachlorobiphenyl (PCB 77) on the fused silica capillary columns of SE-54 and OV-1701. The retention times for PCDEs increased with the increasing number of vicinal chlorines within a series of isomers. The chlorine substitution patterns of PCDEs were used to develop a method for predicting RRTs for congeners that were not synthesized.