BMF 38 - Homohopanes and gammaceranes

C31 to C35 homohopanes and pentacyclic triterpanes like gammacerane are constituents of sedimentary organic matter. The origin of the homohopanes is the most abundant hopanoid in prokaryotes, C35 tetrahydroxybacteriohopane.

Gammacerane has frequently been associated with hypersaline lacustrine environments and gammacerane structures were shown to be reliable geochemical indicators for water column stratification in marine deposits. Gammacerane is one of several diagnostic biomarkers useful in oil spill analysis.

Chiron offers an authentic gammacerane standard in addition to the C31 homohopanes for a safe identification. Gammacerane has a completely different MS than the C31 homohopanes and reference spectra obtained from the standards are useful for this reason.

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