The tentative identification of 2-quinolones has been made in a Wilmington (Calif.) asphalt. These compounds, which exist predominantly in the N-unsubstituted form, were concentrated in an asphaltic resin fraction and are largly responsible for the 1655 cm/sup -1/ infrared absorption band in the asphalt. A strong hydrogen-bonding association between the 2-quinolones and carboxylic acids in asphalt is reported. The association complexes between the 2-quinolines and the carboxylic acids in asphalt and between the model compounds 2-quinolone and cyclohexanecarboxylic acid were studied by infrared spectrometry using a silylation reaction in which the 2-quinolones and carboxylic acids reacted at different rates. The ability of two solvents, methylene chloride and tetrahydrofuran, to break up hydrogen-bonded molecular complexes is shown. The diagnostic value of these solvents in infrared spectrometry for identification of carbonyl functional group types has been demonstrated, and use of these solvents for molecular association studies in asphalts is reported.