In the present work,
asphaltenes obtained using different n-heptane/crude
oil ratios (HCORs) were analyzed using atmospheric
pressure photoionization (APPI) and laser desorption ionization (LDI)
coupled to Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry
(FT-ICR MS). The main objective was to improve the understanding of
the components of the crude oil that precipitate under different solvent
power conditions. Analysis of the compositional distribution of the
asphaltenes reveals that the decrease in solvent power produces an
increase in double bond equivalent (DBE) and the number of heteroatoms
per molecule, while the carbon number remains almost unaltered. This
finding seems to indicate that one of the main drivers for precipitation
is aromaticity as HCOR increases and, consequently, the solvent power
decreases. Both APPI and LDI FT-ICR MS produce average values that
describe the general tendencies obtained using other techniques. Additionally,
APPI FT-ICR MS closely matches bulk data of the most aromatic asphaltenes
obtained in this study.
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