Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Organometallic geochemistry. 2. The molecular characterization of trace organometallic and inorganic compounds of arsenic found in Green River Formation oil shale and its pyrolysis product

Journal Article · · Energy Fuel; (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/ef00003a003· OSTI ID:6440831

The isolation and molecular characterization of naturally occurring methyl- and phenylarsonic acids, 1 and 2, and the inorganic arsenic anion, arsenate, 3, from a Green River Formation oil shale sample were accomplished by separation on a high-performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC) coupled to a graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrometer (GFAA) for arsenic detection. This was followed by a derivatization technique and analysis by capillary-column gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The arsenate, 3, was also isolated via HPLC-GFAA analysis and derivatized to provide tris(trimethylsilyl) arsenate, which was also verified by GC-MS analysis. The pyrolysis of Green River Formation oil shale gives the corresponding shale oil. In addition, a neutral organoarsenic compound(s) was isolated from the oil shale sample by preparative HPLC; however, all attempts to verify its molecular-structure by GC-MS analysis as either trimethylarsine oxide or the corresponding phenyl derivative were unsuccessful. Extraction of a shale oil derived from the Paraho surface retort, with ammonium bicarbonate, gave indications of 1 and 3 and possible traces of 2 by HPLC-GFAA analysis. Derivatization of these extracts provided the identification of 1, but not 2, while 3 was verified by its tris (trimethylsilyl) derivative. The same compounds 1 and 3 were also isolated from the shale oil directly, by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC-HPLC), and identified via derivatization and GC-MS analysis. 25 refs., 7 figs.

Research Organization:
Univ. of California, Berkeley
OSTI ID:
6440831
Journal Information:
Energy Fuel; (United States), Journal Name: Energy Fuel; (United States) Vol. 1:3; ISSN ENFUE
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English