Alkenone

Class of chemical compounds

Alkenones are long-chain unsaturated methyl and ethyl n-ketones produced by a few phytoplankton species of the class Prymnesiophyceae. Alkenones typically contain between 35 and 41 carbon atoms and with between two and four double bonds. Uniquely for biolipids, alkenones have a spacing of five methylene groups between double bonds, which are of the less common E configuration. The biological function of alkenones remains under debate although it is likely that they are storage lipids. Alkenones were first described in ocean sediments recovered from Walvis Ridge and then shortly afterwards in cultures of the marine coccolithophore Gephyrocapsa huxleyi. The earliest known occurrence of alkenones is during the Aptian 120 million years ago. They are used in organic geochemistry as a proxy for past sea surface temperature.The chemical structure of a 37:3 alkenone, (8E,15E,22E)-heptatriaconta-8,15,22-trien-2-one, C37H68O

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