Original paper

Wampenite, C18 H16 , a new organic mineral from the fossil conifer locality at Wampen, Bavaria, Germany

Mills, Stuart J.; Kampf, Anthony R.; Nestola, Fabrizio; Williams, Peter A.; Leverett, Peter; Hejazi, Leila; Hibbs, David E; Mrorsko, Maria; Alvaro, Matteo; Kasatkin, Anatoly V

Abstract

Wampenite, C18H16, is a new organic mineral from the fossil wood (conifer) locality at Wampen, Fichtelgebirge, Bavaria, Germany. It is monoclinic, space group P2 1/a, with a = 6.7331(19), b = 8.689(3), c = 23.709(7) Å, β = 90.118(6)°, V = 1387.0(7) Å3 and Z = 4. Its structure was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, which revealed that the molecular structure comprises an aromatic phenanthrene moiety with an axial methyl group at one end and a disordered propen-2-yl (methylvinyl) terminal group at the other. High resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) confirmed the molecular formula C18 H16 and the IR spectrum is consistent with the molecular structure found.

Keywords

organic mineralwampenitehigh resolution mass spectrometrynew mineralcrystal structure1-methyl-7-(propen-2-yl)-phenanthreneabietic acidfossil woodfi chteliteinfrared