Abstract
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used in solution-state and solid-state experiments on eight asphalt cements. Using a variety of chemical and solution-state NMR spectroscopy techniques, data were obtained about the amounts of aromatic carbon in an average molecule of the asphalt sample, how that carbon is arranged in terms of the size of the average aromatic system and the extent of substitution. The arrangement of the aliphatic portion has also been described in terms of the average nu,ber of alicyclic rings, of aliphatic chain length and extent of branching. Concentrations of carboxylic acids and phenols were measured both before and after significant differences among the asphalts studied.