Chemical composition of the pyridine extracts of sapropel from the Irkutsk oblast

Abstract

The sapropel of Lake Ochaul in the Irkutsk oblast was a test material. Pyridine extracts were separated from the sapropel after the sequential removal of hexane-soluble bituminous matter and humic acids and the enrichment of the residual sapropel. An analysis of the elemental composition, IR spectra, and fragment composition parameters obtained using quantitative 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy demonstrated that pyridine extracted a peculiar group of heteroatomic organic compounds from sapropel, which changed their composition in the course of a sapropel formation process. These compounds had alicyclic hydrocarbon fragments with double bonds with various degrees of substitution of aliphatic radicals, glycoside structures, and carboxylic acids.