Laser desorption laser ionization mass spectrometry (L2MS) produces a stable measurement of the asphaltene molecular mass distribution, which is not achievable with traditional LDI or MALDI. The result derives from the suppression of aggregation owing to the near absence of ion-induced dipole interactions in the L2MS plume and suggests that the molecular mass distribution of asphaltenes can be measured accurately by L2MS. L2MS measurements have also been performed on model compounds representing the archipelago and island models of asphaltene molecular structure. By comparing L2MS fragmentation patterns of these model compounds with those of asphaltenes, specific compounds can be excluded from being dominant in asphaltenes, constraining asphaltene molecular architecture. Finally, mass analysis with resolution sufficient to identify molecular formulas has been achieved with multiple types of mass analyzers, and these results have been used to assess the structure and history of petroleum systems.

Characterization of asphaltenes and petroleum by mass spectrometry

240th National Meeting (2010)

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