Chromatographic Characterization of Gasolines

In the following review, I have attempted to summarize the current status, important new developments, and evolving trends in the chromatographic analysis of gasoline. This chapter focuses solely on the characterization of gasoline and gasoline boiling-range materials, rather than the broader aspects of petroleum analyses. Obviously, in a field of this breadth and wide activity, it has not been possible to cite all relevant published work. Rather, I have chosen selected examples that appeared to be representative of various chromatographic approaches for the characterization of gasoline. Although a number of older and historical references are cited and discussed, whenever possible I have attempted to review more recent publications. In addition, examples of recent unpublished work from our laboratory have been provided. Whenever relevant, I have also discussed appropriate American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) methods for the chromatographic analysis of gasoline. A good general discussion of the status of chromatographic analyses of gasoline and other petroleum-derived products, especially for work before 1979, is given in Ref. 1 .