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Molecular composition analysis of petroleum and alternative fuels has been considered as one of the greatest challenges in analytical chemistry. The rapid development of Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) has provided an opportunity to solve this problem. High mass resolution power and mass accuracy enable the separation of isobaric compounds in a complex mixture and assignment of their molecular composition. The combination of electrospray ionization (ESI) with FT-ICR MS achieves direct analysis of polar compounds in petroleum even if they are in trace amounts in the complex matrix. FT-ICR MS has made a great contribution to the chemical understanding of petroleum and alternative fuels; the relevant application is sometimes called “petroleomic analysis”. Hundreds of journal articles have been published over the past two decades using FT-ICR MS instruments to study the molecular composition of petroleum and alternative fuels, in which most of them used ESI as the ionization source. This review will present an overview of the studies regarding the petroleomic characterization of fossil and alternative fuels by FT-ICR MS coupled with ESI and a critical review of their main findings relevant to the chemical composition. Special features of this review are (1) covering the entire historical period; (2) focusing on ESI ionization; (3) a systematic review of the composition of almost all the components and compound classes, including but not limited to petroleum, coal-derived liquids, biofuels, and their distillates; asphaltenes, heavy residues, interfacial active substances; hydrocarbons and heteroatoms; and polar and nonpolar compounds. In addition, the challenges and further research directions will be proposed. This review focuses on the advances enabled by ultrahigh resolving power FT-ICR MS in a tribute to Professor Alan G. Marshall.
Shi et al. (Tue,) studied this question.