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Science 16 August 1968:
Vol. 161. no. 3842, pp. 700 - 701
DOI: 10.1126/science.161.3842.700
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Articles

Olefins of High Molecular Weight in Two Microscopic Algae

E. Gelpi 1, J. Oró 1, H. J. Schneider 1, and E. O. Bennett 1

1 Departments of Chemistry, Biophysical Sciences, and Biology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77004

The hydrocarbon composition of two algae, a golden-brown (Bot-ryococcus braunii) and a blue-green (Anacystis montana), has been investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Both show distributions of aliphatic hydrocarbons of odd carbon numbers in the medium and high ranges of molecular weight, with maxima at n-C17 and n-C29 for B. braunii and n-C17 and n-C29 for A. montana. With the exception of the n-heptadecane of A. montana all the hydrocarbons are monoenes, dienes, or trienes. Since certain continental sediments and oils show similar distributions of alkanes with respect to carbon number, these organisms may be the precursors of the hydrocarbons in these formations.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Lacustrine petroleum source rocks in the Dinantian Oil Shale Group, Scotland: a review.
J. Parnell (1988)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 40, 235-246
   Abstract »    PDF »
Hydrocarbons of Blue-Green Algae: Geochemical Signfficance.
K. Winters, K. Winters, P. L. Parker, and C. Van Baalen (1969)
Science 163, 467-468
   Abstract »    PDF »


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