Application of atmospheric pressure photo ionization hydrogen/deuterium exchange high-resolution mass spectrometry for the molecular level speciation of nitrogen compounds in heavy crude oils.

We report here for the first time the application of atmospheric pressure photo ionization hydrogen/deuterium exchange (APPI HDX) coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry for molecular level speciation of nitrogen containing compounds in crude oils. The speciation was done based on different combinations of ions produced from nitrogen containing compounds with various functional groups. To prove the concept, 20 nitrogen containing standard compounds were analyzed. As a result, it was shown that the nitrogen containing compound (M) with a primary amine functional group mainly produced a combination of [M - 2H + 2D](•+) and ([M - 2H + 2D] + D)(+) ions, one with a secondary amine including alkylated or phenylated pyrrole a combination of [M - H + D](•+) and ([M - H + D] + D)(+), one with a tertiary amine including N-alkylated or phenylated pyrrole a combination of [M](•+) and [M + D](+), and one with a pyridine functional group mostly [M + D](+) ions. The concept was successfully applied to do nitrogen speciation of resins fractions of two oil samples. Combined with the subsequent investigation of double bond equivalence distribution, it was shown that resins of Qinhuangdao crude oil sample contained mostly alkylated pyrrole and N-alkylated pyrrole type compounds but resins of shale oil extract contained mostly pyridine type nitrogen compounds. It was also shown that the speciation of individual elemental composition was also possible by use of this method. Overall, this study clearly shows that atmospheric pressure photo ionization hydrogen/deuterium exchange (APPI HDX) coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry is a powerful analytical method to do nitrogen speciation of crude oil compounds at the molecular level.