4,4 ''-dimethyldinaphtho[a,d]cycloheptane, a naturally occurring polyaromatic derivative related to triterpenoids of the serratane series

摘要

The polyaromatic hydrocarbon 4,4'-dimethyidinaphtho[a,d]cycloheptane (1a) has been identified by NMR studies after isolation from an Oligocene sediment. The original symmetrical structure of la, which bears a central seven-membered ring, is closely related to higher plant triterpenoid precursor(s) of the serratane series and is believed to have been formed in the subsurface by a microbially mediated aromatization process.