Ruthenium tetroxide oxidation of lignite

Conference · Thu Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:7043244

Olson, E S; Diehl, J W

The objective of these studies was to develop new methods for the elucidation of the organic structure of low-rank coals, especially with regard to the nature of the hydroaromatic groups, the substituent groups on aromatic moieties and bridging groups between aromatic moieties. Ruthenium tetroxide is a useful reagent for the oxidation of alcohols, ethers, aldehydes, amides, alkenes and aromatic compounds. In the case of alkylbenzenes, the benzene ring is preferentially attacked, preserving any alkyl substituents as aliphatic carboxylic acids. The oxidation of lignite (Beulah mine) with ruthenium tetroxide proceeded rapidly at room temperature. The products from the oxidation in the aqueous layer could not be analyzed directly by the HPLC method because the solution was too dilute. Diazomethane in ether was stirred with the aqueous layer for two hours to convert the acids to ether soluble esters, which were analyzed by GC. The major components were aliphatic dicarboxylic acids and benzene polycarboxylic acids. Very low concentrations of aliphatic monocarboxylic acids were formed. Since succinic acid is present in the largest concentrations of the diacids, we may infer that a major structural feature of the lignite is a dimethylene bridge occurring between aromatic moieties or present in a hydroaromatic such as 4,5-dihydropyrene. The model compound studies with diphenylmethane show that this method is limited in its applicability to the determination of single methylene bridges. Since malonic acid was produced in only trace amounts from oxidation of diphenylmethane, the absence of malonic acid in the lignite oxidation products does not rule out methylene bridges between aromatics in the coal. 7 references, 1 figure, 2 tables.

• Research Organization: North Dakota Univ., Grand Forks (USA). Energy Research Center
• DOE Contract Number: FC21-83FE60181
• OSTI ID: 7043244
• Report Number(s): DOE/FE/60181-69; CONF-840805-8; ON: DE84010483
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010600* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Properties & Composition
BROWN COAL
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CARBOXYLIC ACIDS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHROMATOGRAPHY
COAL
DATA
ENERGY SOURCES
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
INFORMATION
LIGNITE
LIQUID COLUMN CHROMATOGRAPHY
MATERIALS
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDATION
OXIDES
OXIDIZERS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RUTHENIUM COMPOUNDS
RUTHENIUM OXIDES
SEPARATION PROCESSES
STRUCTURAL CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
STRUCTURAL MODELS
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS