Lesson plan
Arborane
Arborane is a class of pentacyclic triterpene consisting of organic compounds with four 6-membered rings and one 5-membered ring. Arboranes are thought to be derived from arborinols, a class of natural cyclic triterpenoids typically produced by flowering plants. Thus arboranes are used as a biomarker for angiosperms and cordaites. Arborane is a stereoisomer of a compound called fernane, the diagenetic product of fernene and fernenol. Because aborinol and fernenol have different biological sources, the ratio of arborane/fernane in a sample can be used to reconstruct a record for the relative abundances of different plants.
Article summary
Arborane is a class of pentacyclic triterpene consisting of organic compounds with four 6-membered rings and one 5-membered ring. Arboranes are thought to be derived from arborinols, a class of natural cyclic triterpenoids typically produced by flowering plants. Thus arboranes are used as a biomarker for angiosperms and cordaites. Arborane is a stereoisomer of a compound called fernane, the diagenetic product of fernene and fernenol. Because aborinol and fernenol have different biological sources, the ratio of arborane/fernane in a sample can be used to reconstruct a record for the relative abundances of different plants.
Key claims
No claims recorded.
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
No sources recorded.
Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.