THE ANALYSIS OF METALLOPORPHYRINS IN PETROLEUM USING TANDEM MASS SPECTROMETRY

Abstract
Vanadyl deoxophy lloerythroetioporphyrins (DPEP) and vanadyl etioporphyrins (ETIO) have been identified in Gato Ridge and Boscan petroleum samples using a combination of isobutane chemical ionization and tandem mass spectrometry. In addition, particular porphyrins such as the C30 vanadyl DPEP and ETIO species were identified in a crude oil containing approximately 500 ppm total porphyrins, with only minimal sample clean-up.