Ultrahigh performance supercritical fluid chromatography (UHPSFC) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) provides an agile and robust analytical platform to meet the challenge of analysis of complex petrochemical material. The selectivity afforded by the different SFC column technologies, mobiles phase and atmospheric pressure ionisation techniques provides approaches to reveal specific chemistries within the sample, with the added benefit of sample compatibility with the solvents used. The technique is particularly powerful for detection and quantitation of polar and polymer species present in samples, e.g. corrosion inhibitors in crude oil, polymeric additives and carrier oils in fuels. UHPSFC-MS can provide complementary and orthogonal data to gas chromatography (GC-MS) data, and can be coupled to high resolution MS and ion mobility MS, where further analytical information can be extracted.
Professor John Langley is Head of Characterisation and Analytics in Chemistry at the University of Southampton. He has over 30 years experience of MS and chromatography, working with SFC since 2003 and has led the Chemistry MS Facility since 1988. His research interests are tackling complexity through the application of separation science and mass spectrometry as tools for chemistry/chemical biology/oilfield chemistry. Specific interests include the application of hyphenated approaches, GC-MS, UHPLC-MS & UHPSFC-MS, to analyse small molecules, pharma and agro chemicals, petrochemicals, oilfield chemicals, fuels and biofuels, lipids and archaeolipids, oligonucleotides, polymers and fundamental MS/MS fragmentation processes and mechanisms, the latter using computational methods. John is a Chartered Chemist, a Chartered Scientist, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) and an IUPAC Fellow; President of the International MS Foundation and Chair of the RSC Separation Science Group of the RSC.
PIN 27.3 June/July 2026
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