Sulfur 1s near edge x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy of thiophenic and aromatic thioether compounds

Thiophenic compounds are major constituents of fossil fuels and pose problems for fuel refinement. The quantification and speciation of these compounds is of great interest in different areas such as biology, fossil fuels studies, geology, and archaeology. Sulfur 1s Near-Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy has emerged as a qualitative and quantitative method for sulfur speciation. A firm understanding of the sulfur 1s NEXAFS spectra of organosulfur species is required for these analytical studies. To support this development, the sulfur 1s NEXAFS spectra of simple thiols and thioethers were previously examined, and are now extended to studies of thiophenic and aromatic thioether compounds, in the gas and condensed phases. High-resolution spectra have been further analyzed with the aid of Improved Virtual Orbital (IVO) and Δ(self-consistent field) ab initio calculations. Experimental sulfur 1s NEXAFS spectra show fine features predicted by calculation, and the combination of experiment and calculation has been used to improve the assignment of spectroscopic features important for the speciation and quantification of sulfur compounds. Systematic differences between gas and condensed phases are also explored; these differences suggest a significant role for conformational effects in the NEXAFS spectra of condensed species.