Otimização e validação de métodos por cromatografia gasosa com detector de ionização por chama (GC-FID) para determinação de alcanos: uma revisão bibliográfica

Abstract

Alkanes constitute an important class of hydrocarbons widely used in environmental, petrochemical, and petroleum contamination monitoring studies. In this context, gas chromatography coupled with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID) stands out as one of the main techniques employed for the determination of these compounds due to its high selectivity, sensitivity, and reproducibility. The present study aimed to conduct a literature review on the optimization and validation of analytical methods using GC-FID for the determination of alkanes in different matrices. To achieve this, studies published in the scientific literature addressing parameters related to sample preparation, chromatographic conditions, and analytical validation criteria were analyzed. The results demonstrated that the optimization of factors such as oven temperature, carrier gas flow rate, and extraction conditions, that is, sample preparation procedures, directly influences the analytical performance of the method, contributing to improvements in chromatographic separation, sensitivity, reduction of analysis time, and minimization of matrix effects, thereby enhancing analyte quantification. The reviewed studies also highlighted the importance of employing statistical optimization tools, which enabled the simultaneous evaluation of multiple experimental variables and their interactions. Furthermore, the applicability of alkane determination in different matrices was observed, including environmental and food samples, highlighting its potential for hydrocarbon characterization in water, soil, and sediment samples, petroleum contamination monitoring, and authentication of products such as vegetable oils. In addition, the reviewed studies presented satisfactory results for validation parameters, including linearity, limits of detection, and limits of quantification, demonstrating the reliability of the technique. It can be concluded that GC-FID is an efficient analytical tool for the determination of alkanes, and that method validation is essential to ensure the quality and reliability of the obtained results.