The Biological Fractionation of Isotopes

Editor's Preface

Preface to the Russian Edition

Introduction


1. Causes of Fractionation of Isotopes

I. Fundamental Concepts

II. The Kinetic Isotopic Effect

III. The Thermodynamic Isotopic Effect

IV. The Nuclear-Spin Isotopic Effect

V. Systematics of Isotopic Effects

References


2. Isotopic Composition of the Carbon of Organisms

I. Fractionation of Isotopes in the Organism-Environment System

II. Isotopic Composition of Biochemical Components

III. Attempts to Explain Biological Fractionation of Isotopes

References


3. Method of Calculating the Thermodynamic Isotopic Factors of Polyatomic Compounds

I. Intra- and Intermolecular Thermodynamic Isotopic Effects: Relationship between βi and βΣ Values

II. Spectral Method of Calculating βi Factors

III. The Principle of Additive Calculation of the β Factor

IV. Isotopic Bond Numbers of Carbon

V. Precision of the Additive Method

VI. Statistical Analysis of the Divergence between βi 13Cspectr And βi 13Caddit

VII. Isotopic Bond Numbers of Nitrogen

VIII. Isotopic Bond Numbers of Oxygen

IX. Some Regularities Characterizing Isotopic Bond Numbers

X. Other Additive Methods

XI. Temperature Dependence of Thermodynamic Isotopic Factors

References


4. Experimental Evidence of Thermodynamically Ordered Distribution of Isotopes in Biological Systems

I. Distribution of Isotopes between Individual Amino Acids

II. Intra-molecular Distribution of Isotopes in Amino Acids

III. Distribution of Carbon Isotopes in the Components of the Lipid Fraction

IV. Intra-molecular Distribution of Isotopes in Acetate

V. Intra-molecular Distribution of Isotopes in Aromatic Monomers of Lignin

VI. Isotopic Composition of the Carbon of Phytol and the Porphyrin Series of Chlorophyll

VII. Isotopic Composition of Fragments of the Hemin Molecule

VIII. Intra-molecular Isotopic Effects in other Biogenic Compounds

References


5. Theoretical Model of Biological Fractionation of Isotopes

I. Mechanism of Production of the Thermodynamic Isotopic Effect in Enzymatic Catalysis

II. Fractionation of Isotopes in an Enzymatic Reaction

III. The Isotopic Transfer Effect

IV. Remarks on the Procedure of Kinetic Analysis of Enzymatic Reactions

V. Fractionation of Isotopes in the Case of Variable Volumes of Substrate and Product

VI. Model of Fractionation of Isotopes in a Metabolically Related System of Enzymatic Reactions

References


6. Explanation of the Regularities of the Biological Distribution of Isotopes in the Framework of the Proposed Theory

I. δ13C-ßΣ 13C Correlation

II. Intra-molecular Thermodynamically Ordered Distribution of Isotopes

III. Cases of the Absence of Thermodynamically Ordered Distribution of Isotopes

References


7. Interpretation of the Results of Some Biochemical Experiments

I. Enzymatic Decarboxylation of Pyruvate

II. Microbiological Oxidation of Ethanol to Acetic Acid

References


8. Fractionation of Isotopes in Biological Systems

I. The Calvin Cycle

II. The Hatch-Slack Cycle

III. The Krebs Cycle

References


9. Biological Fractionation of Oxygen Isotopes

I. 18O/16O of Biological Oxygen

II. Nature of Oxygen Isotopic Effects in Biological Systems

References


10. New Isotopic Criteria in the Solution of Problems of the Genesis of Organic Compounds in Nature

I. Experimental Investigation of the Intra-molecular Distribution of Isotopes in Abiogenic Analogs of some Biogenic Compounds

II. Thermodynamic Isotopic Effects in non-Biological Systems

III. Isotopic Criteria for the Recognition of Biogenic and Abiogenic Compounds

IV. Distribution of Isotopes in Products of the fiFscher-Tropsch Reaction

V. Distribution of Isotopes in Products of Synthesis in an Electrical Discharge

VI. Isotopic Composition of the Carbon Components of Carbonaceous Chondrites

References


11. Geological Aspects of Thermodynamically Ordered Isotopic Distributions in Biological Products

I. Chemistry of the Transformation of Living Matter to Fossil Forms

II. The Origin of Petroleum

III. Determination of the Genesis and Source of the Hydrocarbons Forming a Given Gas Field

IV. Relationship of the Isotopic Composition of Biogenic Carbon to the Ambient Temperature

V. Variation in the Isotopic Composition of Organic Carbon over Geologic Time

References


12. The Thermodynamic State of Life

References