Investigation of hydrocarbon components of a yugoslav shale “bitumen”

Abstract Hydrocarbons in the soluble, geolipid portion of Aleksinac (Yugoslavia) shale were investigated in order to find a clue to the origin of the organic material of this sediment. The n -paraffin and branched-cyclic fractions were obtained by using various isolation and separation technique. Preliminary identifications were made using internal standards in the gas–liquid chromatographic analyses of the fractions. The major findings were as follows. The n -paraffin fraction was found to consist of a C 13 -C 37 homologous series with a predominance of odd-carbon-numbered members in the C 25 -C 37 range. In the branched–cyclic fraction, in addition to phytane and pristane, which were found in considerable amounts, the presence of a series of iso -alkanes and of cholestane and coprostane is postulated. Peaks of a great number of other components also existed in the chromatograms of branched–cyclic fractions. However, most of these compounds have yet to be identified.