This
review contains some actual information about more interesting
and perspective methods of coal and petroleum asphaltenes separation,
fractionation, extraction, adsorption, and complexation. These are
the most convenient and simple methods for isolating various components
of asphaltenes. These methods are based on the electrostatic and donor–acceptor
properties of the used reagents and on unique and incompletely understood
phenomena. A promising area is the use of ionic liquids as a convenient
and mild isolation of asphaltene components. Understanding and identifying
the diverse molecular composition of asphaltene components will help
one to understand their nature more fully in the future and, more
precisely, physicochemical interactions and phenomena.