Capillary column gas chromatography (GC) and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-LC) were used to prepare fingerprints (chromatographic profiles) of complex mixtures of organic materials in raw waters from four oil shale processes and from fractions produced in an environmentally mimetic separation scheme. The scheme was liquid-liquid extraction with methylene chloride giving hydrophilic and organophilic fractions. Direct aqueous injection of samples was used for whole waters and hydrophilic fractions when it proved to be an expedient approach to the ''intractable''or extremely hydrophilic materials. Previous work in many laboratories has concentrated on organophilic (hydrophobic) fractions produced in this type of separation scheme. One aim of the present work has been to examine the hydrophilic organic fraction in the same detail as the organophilic fraction to attempt to identify key indicator chemical classes or species which might serve as indicators or tracers in synfuels processing operations in either the laboratory or the environment. Current developments in high-performance liquid chromatography with their implications for aqueous partitioning studies are reviewed and related to the results. Potential key indicator chemical classes were apparent in the neutral fractions of the hydrophilic and organophilic fractions. Amphoteric materials, ordinarily discarded in most extraction protocols, were characterized. 81 refs., 17 figs., 8 tabs.