Insights into preservation of fossil plant cuticles using thermally assisted hydrolysis methylation

Effect of biodegradation on the molecular composition and structure of asphaltenes: Clues from quantitative Py–GC and THM–GC

“…n-Alk-1-enes and n-alkanes are very common pyrolysis products released from bio-and geomacromolecules (Larter and Senftle, 1985;Eglinton et al, 1988). They are considered to originate from thermally induced cleavage of long chain moieties in highly preserved aliphatic biopolymers (Nip et al, 1986;del Río et al, 1995;de Leeuw et al, 2006;Aucour et al, 2009). In asphaltene macromolecules, linear alkyl moieties are attached to the asphaltene core not only by C-C linkages such as side chains and bridges, but also by C-O and C-S linkages (Peng et al, 1997;Strausz et al, 1999a) (Appendix B).…”

Recent applications in analytical thermochemolysis

“…One of the findings focused on the main chemical composition of the testa which was grouped as cellulose-related, lignin-derived phenolics and fatty acids. In another study thermochemolysis-TMAH of plant samples showed clearly different pyrograms of preserved fossil cuticles from those of cutan isolated from living plants [183]. The authors suggested polymerization of monomers derived from cutin or from unsaturated fatty acids as a reason for the excellent preservation of their fossil cuticles.…”

Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry for the chemical characterisation of modern and archaeological figs (Ficus carica)

“…Microscopic analysis of the morphology and chemical analyses of the composition can provide not only information on the diagenetic alterations undergone by the botanical materials in an archaeological context, but can also provide information for the recovery and future conservation of these remains. To date most chemical research has been undertaken on remains of a fossil origin, mainly to obtain geological information for the reconstruction of paleoecological and depositional environments, and for the preservation of organic matter [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. The work that has been carried out on archaeological botanical remains has mainly concerned the study of wood [8][9][10][11][12][13][14], while other types of findings have rarely been considered [15][16][17].…”