Multicomponent mixtures may be considered
complex because of the
overwhelming number of sample constituents and their broad range of
physical–chemical properties. Such features translate into
challenges in resolving all components using separation techniques
but also impact sample preparation, which is often underestimated
in modern practices of oil industry. While the former may be effectively
tackled using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC),
analyte mass discrimination remains overlooked. In the analysis of
whole crude oils or heavy distillates, it is well known that pentatriacontane
(C35) precipitates at room temperature in many solvents,
such as carbon disulfide, n-hexane, and toluene.
Therefore, solvent-based sample preparation methods are biased for
analytes heavier than C35, which are found in unusual crude
oils. Although, current methods using conventional thermal desorption
are limited for C40 hydrocarbons, direct matrix introduction
(DMI) may be used for sample introduction. In this work, we expanded
the effective operating range of DMI for hydrocarbon analysis by GC.
Two case studies were evaluated. First, an uncommonly heavy paraffinic
oil fraction was characterized by DMI-GC to illustrate the effect
of solubility-based discrimination during sample preparation. Second,
we extended the benefits of DMI for the sample preparation of soil
contaminated by oil spill, bypassing the need for solvent extraction.
Relative standard deviations of 6.7–9.4% were observed for
the measurement of n-alkanes, allowing for reliable
qualitative analysis of weathered soils. Furthermore, calibration
curves of n-alkanes from 6.25 μg g–1 to 100 μg mL–1 (Pearson coefficient, r
2 = 0.99) demonstrated the potential of the
DMI-based method for quantitative analysis.