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Atmospheric pressure chemical ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry for complex thiophenic mixture analysis
Author(s) -
Hourani Nadim,
Andersson Jan T.,
Möller Isabelle,
Amad Ma'an,
Witt Matthias,
Sarathy S. Mani
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
rapid communications in mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.528
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1097-0231
pISSN - 0951-4198
DOI - 10.1002/rcm.6707
Subject(s) - atmospheric pressure chemical ionization , chemistry , fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance , mass spectrometry , derivatization , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemical ionization , ion source , direct electron ionization liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry interface , dart ion source , ionization , chromatography , electron ionization , ion , organic chemistry
RATIONALE Polycyclic aromatic sulfur heterocycles (PASHs) are detrimental species for refining processes in petroleum industry. Current mass spectrometric methods that determine their composition are often preceded by derivatization and dopant addition approaches. Different ionization methods have different impact on the molecular assignment of complex PASHs. The analysis of such species under atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) is still considered limited due to uncontrolled ion generation with low‐ and high‐mass PASHs. METHODS The ionization behavior of a model mixture of five selected PASH standards was investigated using an APCI source with nitrogen as the reagent gas. A complex thiophenic fraction was separated from a vacuum gas oil (VGO) and injected using the same method. The samples were analyzed using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR MS). RESULTS PASH model analytes were successfully ionized and mainly [M + H] + ions were produced. The same ionization pattern was observed for the real thiophenic sample. It was found that S 1 class species were the major sulfur‐containing species found in the VGO sample. These species indicated the presence of alkylated benzothiophenic (BT), dibenzothiophenic (DBT) and benzonaphthothiophenic (BNT) series that were detected by APCI‐FTICR MS. CONCLUSIONS This study provides an established APCI‐FTICR MS method for the analysis of complex PASHs. PASHs were detected without using any derivatization and without fragmentation. The method can be used for the analysis of S‐containing crude oil samples. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.