SIMULATION OF THE GEOCHEMICAL TRANSFORMATIONS OF STEROLS - SUPERACID EFFECT OF CLAY-MINERALS

The heating of cholestanol 2a with kaolinite (140°C, 16 hr) mainly leads to a mixture of steranes (40%) and sterenes (35%). The major compounds which are formed have been identified as 5α(H)- and 5β(H)-cholestanes, 4a and 4b, the diacholestenes, 5, the diacholestanes, 6, and the D-homodiacholestanes 7. With the exception of the latter, these compounds have all been observed previously in ancient sediments and crude oils. Several of these compounds are identical or bear structural similarities with those obtained from cholestanol at low temperature in acidic or superacidic conditions. The comparison with the results obtained using other minerals (montmorillonite, talc, alumina, polyphos-phate-treated montmorillonite) shows that the observed transformations are catalysed by superacid sites which are present in kaolinite and montmorillonite. © 1979.