ORGANIC-ACID DERIVATIZATION TECHNIQUES APPLIED TO PETROLEUM HYDROCARBON TRANSFORMATIONS IN SUBSURFACE ENVIRONMENTS

Evidence for the natural microbial remediation of subsurface fuel cont amination situations should include identification and analysis of tra nsformation or degradation products. In this way, a mass balance betwe en fuel constituents and end products may be approached to monitor cle anup progress. Application of advanced organic acid metabolite derivat ization techniques to several known sites of organic compounds and fue l mixture contamination provide valuable information on the pathways a nd progress of microbial transformation. Good correlation between obse rved metabolites and transformation pathways of aromatic fuel constitu ents were observed at the sites.