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Asphaltene
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#PS448
Main Product
Pitch
Segment
Refined Products
Main-Family
Refinery Residues
Sub-Family
Coal & Petroleum Residues
Physical State

Solid

Description

Bitumen (Pitch, Asphalt) is composed of Asphaltene and Maltene. The heavy insoluble asphaltene molecules give bitumen its body and softening point while the maltenes are oily and make asphalt flexible. Asphaltene molecules are soluble in aromatic solvents like toluene but insoluble in heptane. The maltenes are heptane-soluble molecules and less aromatic.

Asphaltenes are highly aromatic; some are hydrocarbons but many molecules contain odd heteroatoms, ie N, O, and S. There are also some metals present - Vanadium, Nickel and Iron. 

The asphaltene mixtures are complex combinations of molecules, but some structures are known. Reported formula masses have been controversial because of a tendency of these molecules to aggregate, but mass spectroscopic techniques shows that the most probable Mr is ca 600, with a spread in masses to above 1000.


Source: Cotton S., Royal Society of Chemistry (Jul 1, 2010). Asphaltene.

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Representative Asphaltene Molecules https://sites.ualberta.ca/~gray/Links%20&%20Docs/Asphaltenes%20web%20page.pdf
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Identifiers

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Chemical Data
Molecular Weight (g/mol)
900
Specific Gravity
1.20
Crude Data
API Gravity
-13.58
Country
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Modified by UserPic   Kokel, Nicolas 2/21/2026 3:38 PM
Added by UserPic   Kokel, Nicolas 12/10/2022 9:50 AM