Formation of Archipelago Structures during Thermal Cracking Implicates a Chemical Mechanism for the Formation of Petroleum Asphaltenes

A series of model compounds for the large components in petroleum, with molecular weights from 534 to 763 g/mol, was thermally cracked in the liquid phase at 365–420 °C to simulate catagenesis over a very short time scale and reveals the selectivity and nature of the addition products. The pyrolysis of three types of compounds was investigated: alkyl pyrene, alkyl-bridged pyrene with phenyl or pyridine as a central ring group, and a substituted cholestane–benzoquinoline compound. Analysis of the products of reaction of each compound by mass spectrometry, high-pressure liquid chromatography, and gas chromatography demonstrated that a significant fraction of the products, ranging from 26 to 62 wt %, was addition products with molecular weights higher than that of the starting compounds. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic analysis showed that the pyrene compounds undergo addition through the attached alkyl groups, giving rise to bridged archipelago products. These results imply that the same geochemical processes that generate the light components of petroleum, such as n-alkanes, simultaneously produce some of the most complex heavy components in the asphaltenes. Similarly, thermal cracking reactions during refinery processes, such as visbreaking and coking, will drive addition reactions involving the alkyl groups on large aromatic compounds.