The objective of this study is to elucidate the nature of the important linkages between aromatic clusters and variations of these links with coal rank. From studies using methods such as NMR and mass spectrometry, the authors have considerable information on the size and types of aromatic clusters in the Argonne coals. In this study, extracts, model polymers, extracted coals, and modified coals are examined by temperature resolved high resolution mass spectrometry. There is evidence that strong bond cleavage may be very important for volatile release in pyrolysis of higher rank coals
