In this work, a synthesis of an oil-soluble iron-based catalyst precursor was carried out and its efficiency was tested in a laboratory simulation of the aquathermolysis process at different temperatures. The rocks of the Usinskoe field from the Permian deposits of the Komi Republic, obtained by steam-gravity drainage, and the iron-based catalyst precursor, as well as the products of non-catalytic and catalytic aquathermolysis, were selected as the object of study. As a result, it was found that the content of alkanes in the samples after thermal steam treatment (TST) at 300 °C increased 8-fold compared to the original oil, and the content of cycloalkanes in the sample with the catalyst increased 2-fold compared to the control experience. This may indicate that not only the carbon-heteroatom bonds (C-S, N, O) but also the C-C bonds were broken. It also shows that increasing the iron tallate concentration at TST 300 °C leads to a decrease in the molecular mass of the oil compared to the control experiment. According to SEM, the catalyst is nanodisperse particles with a size of ≈60–80 nm, which are adsorbed on the rock surface, catalyst removal occurs at a small scale.

In the present work, the thermochemistry of solution, solvation, and hydrogen bonding of cyclic amides in proton acceptor (B) and proton donor (RXH) solvents were studied. The infinite dilution solution enthalpies of δ-valerolactam, N-methylvalerolactam, ε-caprolactam, and N-methylcaprolactam were measured at 298.15 K. The solvation enthalpies of cyclic amides were calculated based on the measured solution enthalpies and sublimation/vaporization enthalpies from literature. The enthalpies of hydrogen bonding between cyclic amides and proton acceptor and donor solvents were then calculated as a difference between the total solvation enthalpy and the non-specific contribution. The latter was estimated via two different approaches in proton donor and proton accepting solvents. The effect of the cycle size on the strength of hydrogen bonding of the cyclic amides in solution is discussed.