Abstract: A method of the determination of the carbon-centred radicals in mainstream cigarette smoke using a spin-labelled fluorophore, 4-((9-acridinecarbonyl)amino)-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-oxyl (TEMPO-9-AC), as a fluorescent probe is presented. After being producted by smoking in International Organization for Standardization (ISO) mode, the carbon-centred radicals in mainstream cigarette smoke were trapped by TEMPO-9-AC, a carbon-centred radical probe with a low fluorescence intensity. Then the latter was transformed to a stable diamagnetic o-alkoxyamine, a high-fluorescence compound. Finally, high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) was used to demonstrate the structures of the carbon-centred radicals, and high performance liquid chromatography with a fluorescence detector (HPLC-FLD) was used to determine the concentration of the carbon-centred radicals. The results showed that the 10 carbon-centred radicals were detected in the mainstream cigarette smoke, and the total carbon-centred radicals concentrations for 1R5F, 3R4F, CM6, and two Virginia type cigarettes, were 52.5 nmol/cig, 214.6 nmol/cig, 424.1 nmol/cig, 68.6 nmol/cig, and 334.2 nmol/cig, respectively; and there was positive relation between the concentrations of the total amount of carbon-centred radicals and the tar amounts in the mainstream cigarette smoke. The detection limit was 0.318 nmol/cig, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) ranged from 3.5% to 9.7%. This method is suitable for the determination of the carbon-centred radicals in the mainstream cigarette smoke.

Key words: carbon-centred radicals, high performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD), high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS), mainstream cigarette smoke, spin-labelled fluorophore probe