Abstract
THE nature of soil humic acids and similar substances derivable from oxidised brown coal is of considerable fundamental and practical interest. It has now been found, using organic extractants, that solutions of soil humic substances, capable of NMR spectroscopic investigation, may be prepared. The spectra obtained suggest that polymers of a similar structure to oxidised polyethylene are important components of soils. Numerous other types of chemical structures are also evident from the NMR absorptions of soil organic matter solutions; the amounts and types present vary widely from soil to soil. It is suggested here that chemical fractionation of soil organic matter can be most easily followed by observation of the NMR spectra.
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GRANT, D. Chemical structure of humic substances. Nature 270, 709–710 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/270709a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/270709a0
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