Dibenz[a,h]anthracene or Benzo[k]tetraphene or 1,2:5,6-Dibenzanthracene is an organic compound with the chemical formula C22H14. It is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) made of five fused benzene rings. It is a fused five-ringed PAH which is common as a pollutant of smoke and oils. It is stable and highly genotoxic in bacterial and mammalian cell systems, as it intercalates into DNA and causes mutations.
Description
Dibenz(a,h)anthracene is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon with five benzene rings. It has low water solubility and low volatility and therefore occurs predominantly in solid form, white to light yellow crystalline, bound to particulates in polluted air, soil, or sediment.[2] It was first synthesized in 1918.[1]
As of 2010, dibenz(a,h)anthracene has been classified as probably carcinogenic to humans, grouped into IARC group 2A.
No epidemiological studies on human exposure to dibenz(a,h)anthracene as an individual PAH exists, because PAHs always occur as components of complex chemical mixtures and never occur in isolation in the environment.[2]
^ abWeitzenbock, Richard; Klingler, Albert (1918). "Synthesis of the isomeric hydrocarbons 1,2,5,6-dibenzanthracene and 3,4,5,6-dibenzophenanthrene". Journal of the Chemical Society, Abstracts. 114(I): 494.