Silylation of coal liquefaction products and an aid to phenol identification

Conference · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:5371782

Wolfson, A C; Farnum, S A; Miller, D J; Kongshaug, P A; Timpe, R

We have an ongoing program to identify phenols present in low-rank coal-derived liquids. We have developed a method for the conversion of the phenols to their trimethylsilyl ethers that facilitates the study of the phenols in liquefaction products. It has been reported that trimethylsilylation increases the volatility of phenols. This increase in volatility is very useful for gas chromatography (GC), permitting analysis of otherwise non-volatile phenols. An additional advantage of trimethylsilylation is that intermolecular hydrogen bonding of the phenols is diminished, thus reducing tailing on the gas chromatograms. Before attempting to silylate phenols in liquefaction products, we optimized the silylation conditions for a series of model compounds, which had previously been identified in our liquefaction products. Our liquefaction process yields three major liquid product types: a water fraction, a light oil, and a heavy oil. All three fractions have phenols present, but differ in the relative amounts of each type. The polar fraction of a pentane-soluble oil, obtained from silica gel column chromatography of a heavy oil, was silylated as shown in equation 1. Gas chromatographic analysis of the silylated product indicates an increase in volatility, as expected. The silylation appeared to be quantitative because there was no evidence of any underivatized phenols. We have found that trimethylsilylation of low-rank coal-derived liquids is a valuable addition to our present methods of phenol identification.

• Research Organization: North Dakota Univ., Grand Forks (USA). Energy Research Center
• DOE Contract Number: FC21-83FE60181
• OSTI ID: 5371782
• Report Number(s): DOE/FE/60181-62; CONF-8404105-4; ON: DE84006379
• Resource Relation: Conference: North Dakota Academy of Science conference, Fargo, ND, USA, 26 Apr 1984
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
COAL LIQUEFACTION
ORGANIC SOLVENTS
PHENOLS
DERIVATIZATION
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
COAL LIQUIDS
PROCESS DEVELOPMENT UNITS
AROMATICS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHROMATOGRAPHY
FLUIDS
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
LIQUEFACTION
LIQUIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOLVENTS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
010405* - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Hydrogenation & Liquefaction
400105 - Separation Procedures