Gas chromatographic retention behavior of polycyclic aromatic sulfur heterocyclic compounds, (dibenzothiophene, naphtho[b]thiophenes, benzo[b]naphthothiophenes and alkyl-substituted derivatives) on stationary phases of different selectivity

Retention indices for 80 polycyclic aromatic sulfur heterocyclic compounds (PASHs) were determined by using high-resolution capillary gas chromatography (GC) with three different stationary phases: a 5% (mole fraction) phenyl-substituted methylpolysiloxane column, a 50% (mole fraction) phenyl-substituted methylpolysiloxane column and a smectic Liquid crystalline column. Retention data were obtained for the following PASHs: dibenzothiophene, 28 alkyldibenzothiophenes, naphtho[1,2-b]thiophene, seven of the eight possible methylnaphtho[1,2-b]thiophenes, naphtho[2,1-b]thiophene, all eight methylnaphtho[2, 1-b]thiophenes, naphtho[2,3-b]thiophene, the three benzo[b]naphthothiophene isomers (benzo[b]naphtho[1,2-d]thiophene, benzo[b]naphtho[2,1-d]thiophene and benzo[b]naphtho[2,3-d]thiophene), and all 30 possible methylbenzo[b]naphthothiophene isomers. Molecular descriptors [length, breadth, thickness (T), and length-to-breadth ratio (LIB)] were calculated for all the compounds studied. Correlations for retention on the liquid crystalline phase and solute geometry (LIB and T) ratios were investigated, and the retention was found to be highly correlated with LIE resulting in correlation coefficients ranging from r = 0.68 to r = 0.98. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.