Yes, you can use Simple Green, or an 'orange citrus' degreaser. Soak the chain for a while, swish it around, shake the bottle. Enjoy the pretty fruit colors and pleasant flowery scents. When you're done playing around, put the chain in mineral spirits and watch all the black stuff flowing out.

The 'mineral spirits' we can buy today at HD isn't really old-school mineral spirits; I don't know what it is, exactly. But it cleans a chain pretty well and the odor is minimal and dissipates quickly. I'd never mess with gasoline.