The work proposed will complete the dissertation research of Miguel Goni on geochemical applications of the 75-100 reaction products (in addition to simple phenols) that are obtained from the CuO method sued to characterize lignins in environmental samples. To date, the P.I.'s have found CuO reaction product mixtures from soils and sediments to include compounds derived from specific amino acids, lipids, cutins, and kelps, along with an extensive suite of lignin-derived phenolic dimers. Three papers describing the cutin work are now submitted and a manuscript on the geochemistries of the amino acid reaction products is in preparation. The P.I.'s propose to wrap up this project by investigating the suites of CuO reaction products: (a) compounds that appear to be unique to kelps and (b) the lignin dimers, which potentially carry novel geochemical information.
