Formation of ethane and propane via abiotic reductive conversion of acetic acid in hydrothermal sediments

A mechanistic understanding of formation pathways of low-molecular-weight hydrocarbons is relevant for disciplines such as atmospheric chemistry, geology, and astrobiology. The patterns of stable carbon isotopic compositions (δ13C) of hydrocarbons are commonly used to distinguish biological, thermogenic, and abiotic sources. Here, we report unusual isotope patterns of nonmethane hydrocarbons in hydrothermally heated sediments of the Guaymas Basin; these nonmethane hydrocarbons are notably 13C-enriched relative to sedimentary organic matter and display an isotope pattern that is reversed relative to thermogenic hydrocarbons (i.e., δ13C ethane > δ13C propane > δ13C n-butane > δ13C n-pentane). We hypothesized that this pattern results from abiotic reductive conversion of volatile fatty acids, which were isotopically enriched due to prior equilibration of their carboxyl carbon with dissolved inorganic carbon. This hypothesis was tested by hydrous pyrolysis experiments with isotopically labeled substrates at 350 °C and 400 bar that demonstrated 1) the exchange of carboxyl carbon of C2 to C5 volatile fatty acids with 13C-bicarbonate and 2) the incorporation of 13C from 13C-2–acetic acid into ethane and propane. Collectively, our results reveal an abiotic formation pathway for nonmethane hydrocarbons, which may be sufficiently active in organic-rich, geothermally heated sediments and petroleum systems to affect isotopic compositions of nonmethane hydrocarbons.

Turnover of the Soil Organic Matter Amino Acid Fraction Investigated by 13C and 14C Signatures of Carboxyl Carbon

Nitrogenous compounds of soil organic matter constitute a major N reservoir on Earth. Both the world food protein supply produced by agriculture and the global contamination by reactive nitrogen species rely on the dynamics of these compounds. To investigate their dynamics, we used both natural 13C labeling and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dating of the α-carboxyl amino carbon, which is specific of the amino acid fraction that was extracted from bulk soil organic matter by ninhydrin hydrolysis. We applied this isotopic approach to investigate the age of carboxyl carbon in a maize-cultivated Cambisol chronosequence. Based on a few measurements, we demonstrate the feasibility of this new compound-specific method of investigation of soil carbon dynamics. We show that soil organic matter amino acids can be split into two very distinct dynamic compartments: the majority having a mean age of a few years and a minority having a mean carbon age of several millennia. The latter fraction can be either strongly stabilized in soils, or can arise from microbial utilization of old carbon resources, as predicted by the priming effect theory.

A 1,5-Bifunctional Organomagnesium Reagent for the Synthesis of Disubstituted Anthracenes and Anthrones

The preparation of a 1,5-bifunctional organomagnesium alkoxide reagent by a deprotonation–magnesiation sequence is described. This reagent reacts with carboxylic acid esters to incorporate the carboxyl carbon atom of the ester into the newly formed ring. The magnesium bisalkoxide resulting from this double nucleophilic attack is subsequently transformed in situ into halogenated disubstituted anthracenes, monosubstituted anthracenes, anthrones, or 9-substituted dihydroanthracene-cis-diols by variation of the acidic workup procedures.

Origin and Nature of Transmission Modes of Anomalous Effects of meta-Substituents on the 13C Chemical Shift of the Carboxyl Carbon (δCO) of Benzoic Acid

Studies of substituent effects on NMR chemical shifts are of great benefit in determining fine details of electron distribution in molecules. Interestingly, NMR substituent effects are often different and even opposite to those associated with chemical reactivity. Among molecules exhibiting anomalous (reverse) substituent effects is benzoic acid, the standard model for studying substituent effects. The substituent effect on the 13C chemical shift of its carboxyl carbon (δ CO) is just the opposite of that on its acid strength or reactivity. To develop insights into the origin of the anomalous effect of a substituent on δ CO, occupancies of natural atomic orbitals at the carboxyl and ring carbons of a set of 10 meta-substituted benzoic acids have been calculated at the density functional theory level using the B3LYP function with split valance 6–311G++** basis set. Statistical correlations obtained for the 13C chemical shifts, δ CO and δ C-ring of these benzoic acids with the natural atomic orbital occupancies calculated for respective carbon atoms on one hand and with Taft’s inductive and resonance parameters (σ I and σ R BA ) of the substituents on the other hand have been critically analyzed. The findings have established firmly that a meta-substituent’s anomalous effect on δ CO is caused by the substituent-induced changes in the total occupancy of only the p z natural atomic orbitals at the carboxyl carbon. The study has demonstrated further that the transmission of the anomalous effect can be successfully interpreted by a 5.5:–2.5:1 combination of the localized, extended, and resonance-induced π-polarization effects.