CHARACTERIZATION OF PETROLEUM RESIDUA THROUGH REDUCTIVE CHEMISTRY

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Abstract
Distillation residua from petroleum, containing 26 — 32% aromatic carbon (fa), are reduced by K0 in tetrahydrofuran to form anions which are then alkylated by alkyl iodides. Consumption of potassium in 24 hours at room temperature is in the range 4 to 5 mmol K per gram resid, of which 19—23% goes to the formation of “K2S” from the removal of sulfur from the resid. The anions of the resid are characterized by alkylation of the resid with 13C enriched methyl iodide followed by examination by heteronuclear correlated two—dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance of 1H and 13C spins. Analysis of proton and carbon shifts of individual methyls demonstrates that attachment of methyls to carbon atoms of the resid is the principal chemistry of the reductive methylation.