Polychlorinated n-Alkanes PCAs

Figure 4 Mass spectra of single PCA congeners recorded with CH4-ECNI (A) and CH4/CH2CI2-NICI (B). TCA, tetrachloroalkane PeCA, pentachloroalkane HxCA, hexachloroalkane. (Reprinted from Zencak Z, Reth M, and Oehme M (2003) Dichloromethane-enhanced negative ion chemical ionization for the determination of polychlorinated n-alkanes. Analytical Chemistry 75 2487-2492 American Chemical Society.)...

As their name implies, chlorinated paraffins are chlorinated derivatives of paraffinic hydrocarbons. They are referred to in this review as polychlorinated alkanes (PCAs) because they are produced by chlorination of n-alkane feedstocks. Commercial PCA mixtures fall into different categories C10-C13 (short), C 4-C17 (medium) and C2o-C30 (long). These mixtures are further subcategorized into their weight content of chlorine 40-50%, 50-60%, and 60-70% [1,2]. Knowledge of the environmental chemistry of PCAs is needed because the physical properties of short and medium chain mixtures are similar to those of the... 

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