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Fossil Carbohydrates

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Organic Geochemistry

Abstract

Although fossil carbohydrates were separated from Tertiary and Cretaceous materials as early as 1922 by Gothan [1] and other workers (see Vallentyne [2], for review of early literature) it was only recently that active work has been done on these substances. Palacas [3] seems to have been the first to identify mono-saccharides from Paleozoic and from pre-Cretaceous Mesozoic rocks (Table 1). In addition to several monosaccharides which he characterized chromatographically, D-glucose was identified chemically in Devonian Marcellus Black Shale. Subsequently Rogers [4] identified additional monosaccharides from Devonian and other rocks mainly employing chromatographic and enzymatic methods. He repeated Palacas’ chemical determination of D-glucose from Marcellus Shale and further characterized D-xylose from the same black shale by crystallization and chemical methods. D-glucose was characterized by converting the crystals into N-p-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucosylamine -m.p. and mixed m.p. 184° C and [α] 22D -200° (approx.) in pyridine (c. 0.007). D-xylose was characterized by converting the crystalline residue into di-O-benzylidene-D-xylose dimethylacetal, [m.p. and mixed m.p. 211-212° C and [α] 22D -7° (approx.) in chloroform (c. 0.015)].

The following assisted or provided advice and information for the preparation of this chapter: Judy G. Bratt, Gunta V. Pakalns, Samuel Kirk wood, Will Salo, M. Alan Rogers, James G. Palacas and Michael Fleming. Some of the unpublished experimental work recorded herein was supported by a grant (NGR-24-005-054) from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, by a grant from the National Science Foundation (GB 18856), and by a grant from the Graduate School, University of Minnesota. The writer expresses sincere thanks for this assistance and support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    F. M. Swain

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bristol, Bristol, England

    Geoffrey Eglinton

  2. St. Joseph College, Hartford, Connecticut, USA

    Mary T. J. Murphy (Sister) (Sister)

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© 1969 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Swain, F.M. (1969). Fossil Carbohydrates. In: Eglinton, G., Murphy, M.T.J. (eds) Organic Geochemistry. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-87734-6_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-87734-6_17

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