Abstract

A crude oil from Shengli oilfield of China was extracted with N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) for separation and enrichment of organic chlorides. The resulting extract with relatively higher chlorine concentration was analyzed with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Among the identified heteroatom compounds in the extract sample, nitrogen-containing compounds were most abundant in the extract sample, followed by chlorine-, sulfur-, and oxygen-containing compounds, respectively. Four organochlorines with an aromatic core structure, i.e., 5-chloro-2-methylaniline, 2-chloro-6-methylaniline, 4-chloro-2-nitrotoluene, and 1-(5-chloro-2-hydroxyphenyl)ethanone, were identified from crude oil extract. The dominant abundant organic chloride is 5-chloro-2-methylaniline with relative content of 65.1% in the total of identified organic chlorides, followed by 1-(5-chloro-2-hydroxyphenyl)ethanone of 16.3%, 2-chloro-6-methylaniline of 14.5%, and 4-chloro-2-nitrotoluene of 4.1%, respectively.