AbstractThe general topic of supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) is introduced, and historical aspects of its development are discussed. The physical properties of supercritical fluids, gases and liquids are tabulated. SFC is compared and contrasted with the classical forms of chromatography ‐ gas chromatography (GC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The selectivity of SFC, GC, and HPLC are discussed and compared. Instrumentation employed for supercritical fluid chromatography is depicted. A wide variety of SFC applications are introduced. New examples of the use of SFC for analysis of a variety of complex oligomeric mixtures indcluding polypropylene glycol, polysiloxanes, fluorocarbon oligomers (i.e.‐3M's fluoro‐chemical surfactant Fluorad 171, and Kel‐F) and high molecular weight normal alcohols are shown. The use of SFC for separation of mono‐, di‐, and triglycerides at low operating temperatures is described. Lastly, the use of SFC for separations of complex hydrocarbon mixtures from liquid fuels, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, synthetic alpha‐olefins, and petroleum functional group separations