Local climate and environment broadly affect the deuterium/hydrogen (D/H) ratios of plant materials, however the degree to which an individual plant’s leaf waxes D/H ratios are affected by these parameters remains in question. Understanding these issues is particularly important in order to reconstruct past floral transitions and changes in the paleohydrologic cycle. For this study, we sampled ...

Microcosm experiments were conducted to quantify carbon isotope fractionation during aerobic biodegradation of n-alkanes (from C3 to C10) and monoaromatic hydrocarbons in unsaturated alluvial sand. In single compound experiments with n-alkanes, the largest enrichment factor was obtained for propane ( 10.8 ± 0.7‰). The magnitude of the enrichment factor decreased with increasing number of carbon...

The anisotropic united atoms (AUA4) model has been used for linear and branched alkanes to predict the surface tension as a function of temperature by Monte Carlo simulations. Simulations are carried out for n-alkanes ( n-C5, n-C6, n-C7, and n-C10) and for two branched C7 isomers (2,3-dimethylpentane and 2,4-dimethylpentane). Different operational expressions of the surface tension using both t...

An equilibrated mixture of pentene isomers was produced by dehydroisomerization of n-pentane on catalysts consisting of Pt clusters within [Fe]ZSM-5 channels. These catalysts showed high isomerization rates, excellent stability even without added H2, and isopentene selectivities above 60%. Metal sites on Pt clusters dehydrogenate n-alkanes and n-alkenes formed undergo skeletal rearrangements wi...

Leaf-wax n-alkanes (2)H/(1)H ratios are widely used as a proxy in climate reconstruction. Although the broad nature of the relationship between n-alkanes δ(2)H values and climate is appreciated, the quantitative details of the proxy remain elusive. To examine these details under natural environmental conditions, we studied a riparian broadleaf angiosperm species, Populus angustifolia, growing o...

Pathways of initial oxidation of n-alkanes were examined in two strains of Cladosporium resinae. Cells grow on dodecane and hexadecane and their primary alcohol and monoic acid derivatives. The homologous aldehydes do not support growth but are oxidized by intact cells and by cell-free preparations. Hexane and its derivatives support little or no growth, but cell extracts oxidize hexane, hexano...

Surface sediments were collected from various locations of the Mandovi estuary and the Marmugoa harbour. Sediments were analysed for organic carbon (OC), total lipids, n-alkanes concentration and composition. Concentrations of OC, total lipids and n-alkanes varied spatially and ranged from 1 to 2.5%, 176 to 1413 microg/g dry weight (dw) sediments, and 0.8 to 3.2 microg/g dw sediments of the Man...

The osmium(VI) nitrido complex, [Os(VI)(N)(L)(CH3OH)](+) (1, L = N,N'-bis(salicylidene)-o-cyclohexyldiamine dianion) is an efficient catalyst for the oxidation of alkanes under ambient conditions using H2O2 as the oxidant. Alkanes are oxidized to the corresponding alcohols and ketones, with yields up to 75% and turnover numbers up to 2230. Experimental and computational studies are consistent w...