Porphyrins from Messel oil shale (Eocene, Germany): Structure elucidation, geochemical and biological significance, and distribution as a function of depth

Journal Article · Sat Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1992 · Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(92)90095-Z· OSTI ID:5355683

Ocampo, R; Bauder, C; Callot, H J; Albrecht, P ^[1]

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1. Univ. Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg (France)

The extraction and isolation procedures of twenty nickel porphyrins (seven alkylporphyrins, thirteen carboxylic acids) from lacustrine Messel shale (Eocene, Germany), as well as the unequivocal structural assignments (obtained using 200 and 400 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), nuclear Overhauser effect, mass spectrometry, and total or partial synthesis of six reference compounds) are described. Ten porphyrins could be specifically correlated with biological precursors: algal chlorophyll c (4), bacteriochlorophylls d (3), and heme (3), while the remaining ones may arise from several chlorophylls. The structures of these fossil pigments mostly confirm the classical Treibs scheme,' including the origin of some porphyrins from nonchlorophyll sources. They also show that, even in a very immature sediment, deep modifications occur, including, in particular, extensive degradation of chlorophyll E ring. The composition of the porphyrin fractions of Messel oil shale was also studied as a function of depth. A porphyrin acids/alkylporphyrins ratio varying from 0.35 to 24.8 demonstrated that the apparent homogeneity of the shale is not reflected on the molecular scale. This was confirmed when the abundance of the twenty individual porphyrins of known structure was measured along the core. Significant correlations between individual porphyrins were found: fossils of bacteriochlorophylls d, homolog pairs of porphyrins (3-H/3-ethyl), etc.

• OSTI ID: 5355683
• Journal Information: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta; (United States), Journal Name: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta; (United States) Vol. 56:2; ISSN GCACA; ISSN 0016-7037
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040500* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Properties & Composition
58 GEOSCIENCES
580000 -- Geosciences
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CARBOXYLIC ACIDS
CENOZOIC ERA
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CHEMISTRY
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ENERGY SOURCES
EUROPE
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GEOCHEMISTRY
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
HETEROCYCLIC ACIDS
HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS
MAGNETIC RESONANCE
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
MATERIALS
MINERAL RESOURCES
MIOCENE EPOCH
MOLECULAR STRUCTURE
NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE
OIL SHALE DEPOSITS
OIL SHALES
ORGANIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
PORPHYRINS
RESONANCE
RESOURCES
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SHALES
SPECTROSCOPY
STRUCTURAL CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
TERTIARY PERIOD