Asphaltenes: Separations, structural analysis and applications

Asphaltenes, complex aromatic compounds from various carbonaceous sources, could be obtained by solvent dissolution, filtration and adsorption. It was difficult to clarify the molecular structures and chemical properties of asphaltene due to its structural similarity, composition complexity and source dependences. Many techniques, like Mass spectrometry, Chromatography, Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Infrared spectroscopy, Roman spectroscopy, Fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis and Small-angle scattering techniques and so on, have revealed some valuable descriptions of asphaltenes chemical compositions and fundamental structures. Moreover, advanced Mass spectrometry,Atomic force microscopy and Scanning tunneling microscopy could provide more clear and essential molecular compounds and structures in asphaltenes. In addition, several asphaltenes models have succeeded to illustrate aggregation properties asphaltene. In this work, the progress on asphaltene separation, characterization and application was summarized, and the similarities and differences between coal-derived asphaltenes and petroleum asphaltenes were compared. Furthermore, the reactivity of asphaltenes has been discussed in the aspect of hydroprocessing, pyrolysis and gasification. Asphaltene was excellent carbon precursor for functional carbon material due to its high aromaticity and carbon yield;several porous carbon nanosheets from asphaltenes that would be prospective electrode materials after being graphitized were shown. Pitch-based carbon fiber derived from coal-derived asphaltenes displayed a tensile strength of 1.0 GPa and elastic modulus of 350 MPa, respectively. These powerful advances will provide asphaltenes promising developments.

Anti-parkinsonian effects of octacosanol in 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6 tetrahydropyridine-treated mice

Our previous research showed that octacosanol exerted its protective effects in 6-hydroxydopamine-induced Parkinsonian rats. The goal of this study was to investigate whether octacosanol would attenuate neurotoxicity in 1-methyl-4-phenyl-l,2,3,6 tetrahydropyridine （MPTP）-treated C57BL/6N mice and its potential mechanism. Behavioral tests, tyrosine hydroxylase immunohistochemistry and western blot were used to investigate the effects of octacosanol in a mouse model of Parkinson＇s disease. Oral administration of octacosanol （100 mg/kg） significantly improved behavioral impairments Jn mice treated by MPTP and markedly ameliorated morphological appearances of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive neuronal cells in the substantia nigra. Furthermore, octacosanol blocked MPTP-induced phosphorylation of p38MAPK and JNK, but not ERK1/2. These findings implicated that the protective effects afforded by octacosanol might be mediated by blocking the phosphorylation of p38MAPK and JNK on the signa transduction in vivo. Considering its excellent tolerability, octacosanol might be considered as a candidate agent for clinical application in treating Parkinson＇s disease.

Identification of nitrogen-polyaromatic compounds in asphaltene from co-processing of coal and petroleum residue using chromatography with mass spectrometry

Abstract Asphaltene, from co-processing of coal and petroleum residues is one of the most precious and complex molecular mixtures existing, with tremendous economic relevance. Asphaltene was separated by Soxhlet extraction with methylbenzene and then divided into three parts by distillation. Gas chromatography （GC） and high-performance liquid chromatography （HPLC） were coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry （Q-TOF MS） to separate and characterize organic nitrogen species in the distillates of asphaltene at molecular level. Molecular mass of compounds was mainly distributed from 150 to 600 ~t. Number of rings plus double bonds （rdb） and synchronous fluorescence spectra indicated that most of the organonitrogen compounds （NPAC） contained heterocyclic aromatic rings, including pyridines, anilines, quinolins, pyrroles, carbazoles and indoles plus various alkyl groups. Constant-wavelength synchronous fluo- rescence spectrometry （CWSFS） indicated NPAC with 2-3 rings were the main structures of organonitrogen compounds and the corresponding structural information was proposed. Some organic nitrogen isomers were separated and identified by atmospheric pressure chemical ionization （APCI） GC-Q-TOF MS and electrospray ionization （ESI） HPLC-Q-TOF MS. The methodology applied here contained chromatographic injection of the diluted sample using conventional columns sets and Data Analysis 4.2 software. Identifying molecular structures provides a foundation to understand all aspects of coal- derived asphaltene, enabling a first-principles approach to optimize resource utilization.