Studies related to the structure and reactivity of coals. 16. The chemical structure of the oil products from reactions of Victorian brown coals

A suite of Victorian brown coals and the guest and host components of the coals obtained by 320 °C extraction have been reacted to obtain oils for analysis by n.m.r. and g.c.-m.s. techniques. Batch autoclave experiments without solvent, but with 10 MPa initial hydrogen pressure in the presence of stannic oxide, were undertaken at 405 °C. Oils derived from the macromolecular host material were highly polar materials and contained mainly phenols, and one- and two-ring aromatic hydrocarbons. They were of similar composition for all Victorian low-sulphur brown coals. In contrast, oils derived from the guest material were mainly a mixture of n-alkanes and terpenoid-derived cyclic hydrocarbons, and the ratio of these two types of compounds varied with the coal.