Preparative method for chromatographic separation of olefinic hydrocarbons in cracked middle distillates

An attempt has been made to preparatively separate olefins as a group from visbroken middle distillates (150-370 o C) employing silica gel-bauxite and silver nitrate-impregnated silica gel column chromatography. The method of separation was first standardized on a synthetic mixture of olefinic and saturated hydrocarbons and then its applicability to a sample was checked. Ultraviolet, infrared and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic analyses of the separated fractions were done to check cross contamination