Our ability to separate petroleum pitches into narrow molecular weight fractions via supercritical/dense-gas extraction (DGE) has given us unique capabilities for producing fractions that can be used as standards for structural characterization as well as for quantitative mass spectrometric analyses. These DGE-derived pitch fractions with narrow molecular weight distribution (MWD) were subjected to preparative-scale gel permeation chromatography. MALDI-TOF massspectrometry and MALDI-post source decay analyses of the pitch fractions wereperformed to determine the absolute mol wts of the most prevalent speciespresent in petroleum pitch and the nature of the substituent groups present onthe different species, respectively. High-performance liquid chromatographywith photodiode array detection (HPLC/PDA) was also used to determine theidentities of the structures present in the petroleum pitches. DGE-derived fractionswith narrow MWD were also used as standards to obtain relationships betweenMALDI response and actual pitch constituent quantities using the standardaddition method.

Structural characterization and quantitative analysis of petroleum macromolecules

240th National Meeting (2010)

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