DETERMINATION OF THE pK_a VALUES OF POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBON METABOLITES BY CAPILLARY ZONE ELECTROPHORESIS

Abstract

Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) was used to determine the pK_a values of six environmentally and metabolically important PAH metabolites. The pK_a values obtained from CZE were close to the pK_a values reported in the literature which were obtained by spectroscopy. In this work, it was found that CZE is very suitable for the determination of the pK_a values of the weakly acidic, large ring PAH metabolites. A pK_a value acquired for one of the model compounds by spectrometry gave supporting evidence for the reliability of CZE in obtaining pK_a values for relatively large molecular weight hydroxyl compounds.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors thank the United States Environmental Protection Agency for financial support of this project under Grant No. R824100.