Abstract
Alkaline CuO degradation products of a recent lacustrine sediment were analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry. (1) Approximately 80 compounds were identified in the degradation products. They include C10~C32 fatty acids, C18~C32 fatty alcohols, C4~C9 and C16~C28 α ω-dicarboxylic acids, C16~C30 ω-hydroxy acid, lignin-derived phenolics (vanillyl phenols, syringyl phenols, p-coumaric and ferulic acids), and cutin-derived acids (9,16- and 10,16-dihydroxyhexadecanoic acids, 8-hydroxyhexadecan-1,16-dioic acid, 9,10,18-trihy-droxyoctadecanoic acid, and 9,10-dihydroxyoctadecan-1,18-dioic acid). (2) Dimers of vanillyl phenols were inferred to be present in the degradation products. (3) Alkaline CuO oxidation method was concluded to be very powerful for tracing land-derived organic matter in the aquatic environment.
