Structural and physiological properties of natural petroleum acids from middle oil fractions of "Kelebija" oil

Abstract

The investigated petroleum acids have been isolated from middle oil fractions (b.p. 270-380°C) of Vojvodina crude oil "Kelebija." Group-structural analysis was performed with low resolution mass spectrometry using Field Ionization and Chemical Ionization. The identified carboxylic acids, CnH2n+zO2, belong to the series of monocyclic, bicyclic, tricyclic and tetracyclic carboxylic acids. Physiological activity of isolated petroleum acids was determined using aqueous solutions of potassium salts. High auxin activity was determined using the coleoptile test (20.5% increase in coleoptile) with petroleum acid concentration of 10-7M, and very high biological activity of gibberellin type was determined using the endosperm test (31.6% increase in concentration of reducing sugars) with petroleum acid concentration of 10-7M.

Keywords

• Petroleum acids
• low-resolution MS
• auxin activity
• gibberellin activity