Because our lab has studied so many of them, chemists often ask us "where do you get all of these pure PAHs?" The truth is that instead of buying them, Dr. Allamandola isolates them from roofing material by flash chromatography. Since any given molecule may be present in trace amounts this often means starting with literally tons of tar. The image below shows Dr. Allamandola with a shipment of roofing tar.

Just Kidding!

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