Petroleomics is the identification of the totality of the constituents of naturally occurring petroleum and crude oil using high resolution mass spectrometry.
[1][2][3] In addition to mass determination, petroleomic analysis sorts the chemical compounds into heteroatom class (nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur), type (degree of unsaturation, and carbon number).
[9] field desorption FT-ICR MS has enabled the identification of a large number of nonpolar components in crude oils that are not accessible by electrospray, such as benzo- and dibenzothiophenes, furans, cycloalkanes, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
However, APPI ionizes a broad range of compound classes and produces both protonated and molecular ion peaks, resulting in a complex mass spectrum.
From the Kendrick plot, the species with peaks in the mass spectrum can be sorted into compound classes by the number of nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur heteroatoms.