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dinosterol
Sign in to saveDinosterol (4α,23,24-trimethyl-5α-cholest-22E-en-3β-ol) is a 4α-methyl sterol that is produced by several genera of dinoflagellates and is rarely found in other classes of protists. The steroidal alkane, dinosterane, is the 'molecular fossil' of dinosterol, meaning that dinosterane has the same carbon skeleton as dinosterol, but lacks dinosterol's hydroxyl group and olefin functionality. As such, dinosterane is often used as a biomarker to identify the presence of dinoflagellates in sediments.
Chemical data
- Formula
- C30H52O
- Molecular weight
- 428.7 g/mol
- IUPAC name
- (3S,4S,5S,8S,9S,10R,13R,14S,17R)-4,10,13-trimethyl-17-[(E,2R,5R)-4,5,6-trimethylhept-3-en-2-yl]-2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,11,12,14,15,16,17-tetradecahydro-1H-cyclopenta[a]phenanthren-3-ol
via PubChem
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Encyclopedic overview
12 sectionsContents
- Chemical structure
- Biosynthesis
- Biological occurrence
- Preservation and diagenesis
- Measurement techniques
- Use as a biomarker
- Dinosterol in a Marine Diatom
- Phytoplankton Community in the Arabian Sea
- Dinoflagellates in the Adriatic Sea
- Dinoflagellates in the Arctic Ocean
- Hydrogen Isotope Analysis
- References
Dinosterol (4α,23,24-trimethyl-5α-cholest-22E-en-3β-ol) is a 4α-methyl sterol that is produced by several genera of dinoflagellates and is rarely found in other classes of protists. The steroidal alkane, dinosterane, is the 'molecular fossil' of dinosterol, meaning that dinosterane has the same carbon skeleton as dinosterol, but lacks dinosterol's hydroxyl group and olefin functionality. As such, dinosterane is often used as a biomarker to identify the presence of dinoflagellates in sediments.
== Chemical structure == Dinosterol is a C30 sterol characterized by four fused rings (three six-membered and one five-membered), seven methyl groups, an olefin in its side-chain, and a secondary alcohol. The double bond in the side chain is located at the 22 position, and dinosterol's methyl groups are at the 20, 23, 24 and 25 positions of the side chain. The structure of dinosterol is established as 4α,23,24-trimethyl-5α-cholest-22-en-3β-ol.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “dinosterol” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.