Abstract
Samples of natural oils ranging in stated ages from Palaeogene to Miocene, and of sediments: marl (Miocene), northern Apennines; oil shale (Cretaceous), Jurf ed Darawish, and Phosphoria retort shale (Permian), were analysed for methylated phytanylbenzenes. These include: phytanylbenzene, 1-methyl-3-phytanylbenzene, 1,4-dimethyl- 2-phytanylbenzene, 1,2-dimethyl-4-phytanyl-benzene and 1,2,4- trimethyl-5-phytanylbenzene. These compounds are thought to be derived diagenetically from isoprenoid quinones, or may alternatively represent a direct biosynthetic origin from specific archaebacteria.