Analysis of Coal-Derived Materials with Low Volatility by Low-Voltage, High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry in Conjunction with Direct-Insertion-Probe Techniques

A low-voltage, high-resolution mass spectrometric (LVHRMS) method utilizing direct-insertion-probe techniques for analyses of coal-derived materials with low volatility is presented. The reproducibility of the LVHRMS-direct-insertion-probe method for determining heteroatomic composition, homologous series, and carbon number distributions of coal-derived materials is demonstrated. An auxiliary method to compute the experimental masses of sample peaks is described. The application of the LVHRMS-direct-insertion-probe method to the analyses of coal extracts treated with molten caustic to remove organosulfur compounds is reported. The LVHRMS-direct-insertion-probe method described can be applied to other complex materials containing heteroatoms.