Organic Derivatives of Clay Minerals, Zeolites, and Related Minerals

Abstract

In the field of Biopoesis which is concerned with the abiotic events leading to the origin of life, organic derivatives of minerals are of increasing interest. They allow, inter alia, the accumulation of organic matter, the stabilization of metastable compounds by means of complex formation, or the alteration of organic material by catalysis. Of special interest are those minerals which either due to small particle size exhibit large surface areas or for structural reasons have boundary surfaces inside the crystal which are easily accessible from the outside. For this reason, the present work will principally be concerned with minerals that exhibit the aforementioned characteristics. They include within the silicates, minerals such as montmorillonites, vermiculites, micas, swelling chlorites, kaolinite, mixed layer minerals, and zeolites with a wide open channel network. In addition, organic derivatives of uranium mica, swelling vanadates and phosphates, and hydroxyaluminates will briefly be discussed. In view of the fact that little is known on naturally occurring allophanes, these amorphous compounds are just mentioned.