Analysis of the chemical composition of solid petroleum hydrocarbons by electron attachment (EA) mass spectrography with negative ions

The composition of solid saturated hydrocarbons from slack‐wax after reaction with urea has been investigated by electron‐attachment (EA) mass spectrography with negative ions. From the spectra of the samples the content of paraffin hydrocarbons, monocyclic, dicyclic and other polycyclic naphthenes was calculated. The presence of n‐paraffins up to C46, isoparaffins and cycloalkanes up to C52 has been confirmed. In the paraffin series the concentration of normal paraffin hydrocarbons containing one and two 13C atoms was determined. On the basis of the results obtained the constitution of the samples and the possible structures of the hydrocarbons were discussed. The results obtained have shown that the solid hydrocarbons which react with urea not only consist of one‐ or two‐ring systems, but also of systems with up to five and six rings.