Novel functionalised chlorins in sediments of the Messinian Vena del Gesso evaporitic sequence: Evidence for a facile route to reduction for biomarkers

Fossil pigment distributions from sediments of the Messinian Vena del Gesso, Italy, include two novel sedimentary chlorins as revealed by high performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography multistage mass spectrometry. The two novel chlorin components are meso-derivatives of chlorophyllone a and represent early stage diagenetic intermediates in the formation of bicycloalkano chlorin and porphyrin structures that occur in these and other carbonaceous sediments. Their presence indicates the operation of a facile route to reduction during early diagenesis.