Multidimensional GC-fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance MS analyses: utilizing gas-phase basicities to...

Area of Science:

• Petroleum Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Mass Spectrometry

Background:

• Hydrocarbon isomers in crude oil often exhibit similar retention times and mass spectra.
• Conventional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) struggles with precise identification of these isomers.
• Distinguishing between isomers is crucial for accurate petroleum analysis and characterization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance the identification capabilities of GC-MS for hydrocarbon isomers.
• To introduce real-time proton affinity or gas-phase basicity bracketing as an additional analytical dimension.
• To demonstrate the utility of GC-FT-ICR-MS for isomer differentiation in complex mixtures.

Main Methods:

• Utilized gas chromatography-fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance-mass spectrometry (GC-FT-ICR-MS).
• Incorporated real-time proton affinity bracketing for enhanced data acquisition.
• Analyzed components of a retail gasoline sample.

Main Results:

• Achieved an average mass measurement error of less than 3 ppm for gasoline components.
• Successfully differentiated various hydrocarbon isomers, including C(8)H(10) species.
• Demonstrated the power of combining thermo-chemical measurements with GC-FT-ICR-MS data.

Conclusions:

• GC-FT-ICR-MS coupled with proton affinity bracketing significantly improves hydrocarbon isomer identification.
• This advanced analytical approach overcomes limitations of conventional GC-MS for complex petroleum samples.
• The method offers high precision for distinguishing closely related hydrocarbon species.