Comparison of column chromatography and Ag+-thin layer chromatography for aromatic compounds in crude oil

Abstract

By comparing the separation effects and applicability of Ag+-thin layer chromatography (Ag+-TLC) and column chromatography on aromatic hydrocarbons with different ring numbers in crude oil, this article aims to provide theoretical support for the quantitative analysis of aromatics and isotope analysis of monomer hydrocarbon in organic geochemical research. The results showed that Ag+-TLC can better enrich monocyclic aromatics and differentiate the monocyclic aromatics of different isomers into different components, but has a poor effect in enriching palycyclic aromatics, which may lead to severe losses and possible peak interference. Column chromatography has better separation effects on dinuclear and polycyclic aromatic compounds. Therefore, Ag+-TLC, suitable for the fine separation of monocyclic aromatics, can be used to enrich alkylbenzenes and aryl isoprenoids, and meets the detection requirements for measuring their monomer hydrocarbon isotopes; while column chromatography can effectively enrich series of compounds such as naphthalene, phenanthrene, and triaromatic steroids, and meets the requirements for detecting the separating degree of monomeric hydrocarbon isotopes.

Keywords

• column chromatography
• ag+-thin layer chromatography (ag+-tlc)
• aromatics
• crude oil