Crude oil consists of different components such as kinds of paraffin, naphthenes, aromatics, asphaltenes, and waxes. Which of these components contribute towards the acidic nature of crude oil?
carboxylic acids, phenols, naphthenic acids are generaly the acidic components crude oil.
carboxylic acids, phenols, naphthenic acids are generaly the acidic components crude oil.
Mandal has nicely answered your question.
I would like to mention that naphthenic acids (NA) belong to a large group of carboxylic acids, with alkyl, aromatic, hetero aromatic etc groups and their various combinations. The composition of NA can vary, depending upon the source of crude petroleum and its level / duration of ageing.
The main components of petroleum are paraffins (i.e. alkanes), naphthenes (i.e. cycloalkanes), aromatics (benzene derivatives & the like), waxes(main one is paraffin wax which is called eicosane C20H42) , and residuals (e.g. asphalt). None of these are acidic or contribute to acidity. The weak acids in petroleum are organic & they are the famous ones mentioned in the answer of professor Ajay Mandal but they are minor components in the total bulk of crude petroleum.
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