Evidence for a Polyalkyl Nature of son Humin

Naturwissenschaften 78 (1991) © Springer-Verlag 1991 been considered as major precursors of humin [l 3]. The classical concepts of the nature of the humin have been questioned over the last few years. Recent studies using l3C NMR spectrometry point to the need of identifying the nature of paraffinic material in the fine soil fractions [4]. The origin of the polymethylene structures in soil humus remains particularly obscure since the lipids removed by solvent extraction always represent a minimal amount to the I3C NMR alkyl signals. The possibility of the accumulation in soils of highly aliphatic kerogen-like materials constitutes a suggestive hypothesis that would connect the early humification stages with the formation processes of fossil organic sediments of economic interest [5].