Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Oxygen-containing Organic Compounds in A Middle/Low-temperature Coal Tar from Northern Shaanxi

The total content of oxygen. containing organic compounds (OCOCs) in middle/low temperature coal tar (M/LTCT) are relatively high-Many OCOCs in M/LTCT are value. added organic compounds. In this investigation, a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) and negative-ion electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (NIESIFTICRMS) were used to analyze OCOCs in a M/LTCT from Northern Shaanxi, aiming at understanding the composition and structures of the OCOCs to provide scientific basis for efficiently separating the OCOCs. The results showed that one oxygen. containing species (O-1, most of which are arenols) and two oxygen. containing species (O-2) in the GC-MS-detectable OCOCs accounted for 99. 4% and 0. 6%, respectively; numbers of carbon, oxygen and aromatic rings in the OCOCs detected with the NIESIFTICRMS were 8 - 35, 1 - 5 and 1 - 4, respectively, and O-1 and O-2 were predominantly abundant among the OCOCs; the main acidic OCOCs were phenol, benzenediols, benzoic acid and their alkyl. substitutes along with cyclanoic and chain alkanoic acids, and the main species were arenols with 1-4 aromatic rings among O-1. GC-MS and NIESIFTICRMS have complementary advantages, and are proved to be effective tools for understanding the composition and structures of OCOCs in M/LTCT at molecular level.