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Abelsonite is a nickel porphyrin mineral with chemical formula C31H32N4Ni. It was discovered in 1969 in the U.S. State of Utah and described in 1975. The mineral is named after geochemistry Philip H. Abelson. It is the only known crystalline geoporphyrin.
Abelsonite is a secondary mineral that formed in fractures, , and bedding planes of oil shale. The mineral probably formed from diagenesis of chlorophyll, likely chlorophyll a, which was transported as an aqueous solution into a favorable geologic setting.
Alternative source are Methanogen Archea, where close compound is used in Cofactor F430 critical for methane production.
In 2003, abelsonite was fully synthesized for the first time.
The mineral is a deoxophylloerythroetioporphyrin (DPEP), with nickel occupying the center of the porphyrin ring. Most of the mineral consists of a C31 porphyrin with small quantities of a C30 norisomer. The mineral crystallizes in the triclinic crystal system.
Type specimens are held in The Natural History Museum in London and the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
Structure
In 1989, abelsonite was the only known geoporphyrin to have a crystalline structure. Most geoporphyrins occur as a series of homologues spanning a large range of carbon numbers. The porphyrin which comprises abelsonite is common, but it does not usually occur in isolation from other porphyrins.
History
The mineral was first noted in 1969 in a core sample made by the Western Oil Shale Corporation in Uintah County, Utah. It was described in 1975 in the journal Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. The mineral was named after Philip H. Abelson (1913–2004), a long-time editor of the journal Science, for his work in organic geochemistry.
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