CompleTe - Unique analytical workflow involving COMPLEmentary TEchniques for the reliable molecular identification of hydrocarbons
Abstract:
The two-year CompleTe project aims at creating a paradigm shift in the reliability and confidence to identify the single hydrocarbons constituting vapors or gas mixtures. The goal is to establish an innovative parallel analysis workflow, where highly complementary and informative chromatographic and spectral data are combined for a reliable molecular identification.
Hydrocarbons are the principal constituents of petroleum and natural gas. They are also metabolism products in biological systems. In the first case, they serve as fuels and lubricants, as well as raw materials to produce plastics, fibers, rubbers, solvents, industrial chemicals, etc. In humans, they are metabolites deriving from lipid peroxidation, ethanol metabolism, etc. and are often recognized as biomarkers of specific diseases. Understanding the composition of such complex samples (e.g., pyrolysis oil from plastics, breath, or urine from patients) is particularly challenging, especially when it comes to individually identifying single hydrocarbons. Many relevant compounds cannot indeed be separated or confidently characterized using traditional techniques. Basically, these give information on the carbon number, the presence of unsaturated bonds and the structural conformation (e.g., aliphatic, aromatic, linear, branched, cyclic, etc). For instance, hydrocarbons have been classically studied by using gas chromatography (GC), useful for their separation based on their boiling point. However, the resolving power and selectivity of conventional GC does not match the complexity and structural variety of the subclasses of hydrocarbons. In addition, the number of isomers drastically increases with carbon number. The use of mass spectrometry (MS) to spectrally-resolve chromatographic co-elutions certainly increases the identification capability of a given analytical system. However, also in this case, closely eluting peaks can have identical fragmentation patterns or molecular weight, as in the case of structural isomers.
The rationale behind this project lies in the complexity and the huge structural variety/conformational isomerism of hydrocarbons. The solution proposed relies on the combined use of analytical techniques with high-resolution, separation power, and selectivity. The intent is to demonstrate that the parallel analysis approach used, consisting of multidimensional and fast GC in combination with MS and Fourier transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), can provide the appropriate selectivity and/or resolution for both the physical and spectral separation of hydrocarbons, integrating a powerful identification capability.
Exploiting this information has high modern societal impact, ranging from environmental sustainability issues (e.g., for recycled waste valorization), to biomedical applications (e.g., for the chemical validation of diagnostic biomarkers).
Hydrocarbons are the principal constituents of petroleum and natural gas. They are also metabolism products in biological systems. In the first case, they serve as fuels and lubricants, as well as raw materials to produce plastics, fibers, rubbers, solvents, industrial chemicals, etc. In humans, they are metabolites deriving from lipid peroxidation, ethanol metabolism, etc. and are often recognized as biomarkers of specific diseases. Understanding the composition of such complex samples (e.g., pyrolysis oil from plastics, breath, or urine from patients) is particularly challenging, especially when it comes to individually identifying single hydrocarbons. Many relevant compounds cannot indeed be separated or confidently characterized using traditional techniques. Basically, these give information on the carbon number, the presence of unsaturated bonds and the structural conformation (e.g., aliphatic, aromatic, linear, branched, cyclic, etc). For instance, hydrocarbons have been classically studied by using gas chromatography (GC), useful for their separation based on their boiling point. However, the resolving power and selectivity of conventional GC does not match the complexity and structural variety of the subclasses of hydrocarbons. In addition, the number of isomers drastically increases with carbon number. The use of mass spectrometry (MS) to spectrally-resolve chromatographic co-elutions certainly increases the identification capability of a given analytical system. However, also in this case, closely eluting peaks can have identical fragmentation patterns or molecular weight, as in the case of structural isomers.
The rationale behind this project lies in the complexity and the huge structural variety/conformational isomerism of hydrocarbons. The solution proposed relies on the combined use of analytical techniques with high-resolution, separation power, and selectivity. The intent is to demonstrate that the parallel analysis approach used, consisting of multidimensional and fast GC in combination with MS and Fourier transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), can provide the appropriate selectivity and/or resolution for both the physical and spectral separation of hydrocarbons, integrating a powerful identification capability.
Exploiting this information has high modern societal impact, ranging from environmental sustainability issues (e.g., for recycled waste valorization), to biomedical applications (e.g., for the chemical validation of diagnostic biomarkers).
Dettagli progetto:
Referente scientifico: Franchina Flavio Antonio
Fonte di finanziamento: Bando PRIN 2022
Data di avvio: 28/09/2023
Data di fine: 28/09/2025
Contributo MUR: 111.010 €
Co-finanziamento UniFe: 45.000 €
Partner:
- Università degli Studi di FERRARA (capofila)
- Università degli Studi di MESSINA