ABSTRACT
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has been a useful technique for determining the precise structure of the components of the commercial Aroclors. NMR spectra have also been used in establishing the identity of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) metabolites and, in addition, the spectra of several synthetic chlorohydroxybiphenyl isomers have also been reported. Tarpley and Goldstein and others have reported the 60 MHz PMR of several chlorobiphenyl isomers and more recently Sissons and Welti have published the 220 MHz spectra of a range of chlorobiphenyls many of which have been identified as components of commercial Aroclor samples. The work by Hutzinger and co-workers has shown that hydroxylated chlorinated biphenyls are the most common PCB metabolites produced by a wide variety of biological systems. In addition, it has also been shown that irradiation of PCB isomers and Aroclor samples all yield products whose mass spectra are consistent with the chlorohydroxybiphenyl structure.
