Interaction of copper with fatty acids in Soxhlet extraction and its influence

Treatment with metallic copper for the removal of elemental sulfur from bitumen extracted from sedimentary rocks or petroleum is the most widely used method. Little attention has been paid, however, to its disadvantages. It was observed that copper can interact with some polar organic substances during conventional sulfur removal, which can strongly influence the quantitative and qualitative determination of bitumen, as has been confirmed by interaction of long-chain fatty acids with copper. The copper soap generated was analyzed by element analysis, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry （ICP-OES）, thermal analysis （TG-DSC） and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy （FFIR）. Mechanism of the interaction was investigated and elucidated. Our experimental results would necessitate improvement of the present method for sulfur removal and/or a search for a new one.