Molecular composition of photooxidation products derived from sulfur-containing compounds isolated from petroleum samples

Surrogate and Deepwater Horizon (DWH) crude oils were subjected to a sulfur separation to yield fractions enriched in sulfide and thiophene functionalities. The resultant fractions (DWH sulfides, DWH thiophenes, surrogate sulfides, surrogate thiophenes) were subjected to 24h solar irradiation in a laboratory and their oil- and water-soluble photoproducts were isolated. The parent oil sulfur fractions (before irradiation) as well as the oil- and water-soluble photoproducts were analyzed by FT-ICR MS for molecular analysis.