MILD OXIDATION OF REDUCTIVELY ETHYLATED SOLID FUELS

A reductively ethylated lignite and a reductively ethylated coking coal have been oxidized by alkaline nitrobenzene. The products of the oxidation were separated into fractions by extraction with organic solvents, and the compounds present in the resulting solutions were characterized by a combination of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. These compounds had molecular weights less than 300 and the oxidation, though mild, had fragmented the reductively ethylated fuels. Many problems remain, but the method appears to lead to an understanding of the structures of reductively ethylated solid fuels. The structures of the oxidation products are listed and discussed; in general they confirm the interpretation of the n.m.r. spectra of reductively ethylated solid fuels2. © 1979.