Semi-Empirical Topological Method for Prediction of the Relative Retention Time of Polychlorinated Biphenyl Congeners on 18 Different HR GC Columns

High resolution gas chromatographic relative retention time (HRGC-RRT) models were developed to predict relative retention times of the 209 individual polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) congeners. To estimate and predict the HRGC-RRT values of all PCBs on 18 different stationary phases, a multiple linear regression equation of the form RRT = a(o) + a(1) (no. o-Cl) + a(2) (no. m-Cl) + a(3) (no. p-Cl) + a(4) (V(M) or S(M)) was used. Molecular descriptors in the models included the number of ortho-, meta-, and para-chlorine substituents (no. o-Cl, m-Cl and p-Cl, respectively), the semi-empirically calculated molecular volume (V(M)), and the molecular surface area (S(M)). By means of the final variable selection method, four optimal semi-empirical descriptors were selected to develop a QSRR model for the prediction of RRT in PCBs with a correlation coefficient between 0.9272 and 0.9928 and a leave-one-out cross-validation correlation coefficient between 0.9230 and 0.9924 on each stationary phase. The root mean squares errors over different 18 stationary phases are within the range of 0.0108-0.0335. The accuracy of all the developed models were investigated using cross-validation leave-one-out (LOO), Y-randomization, external validation through an odd-even number and division of the entire data set into training and test sets. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1365/s10337-010-1696-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.