Steroids are widely used in geochemical studies. They are common in living organisms, sediments and petroleum, and the diagenetic pathways of steroidal compounds in the subsurface are reasonably well understood. However, there are still some questions concerning their thermal evolution (i.e., isomerization, aromatization, and cracking), such as the rates of formation and alteration of various steroidal compounds and the effects of catalysis on these processes, specifically the possible influence of sulfur-containing species. To address these questions, cholesterol and a mixture of cholesterol and elemental sulfur were reacted to simulate the thermal evolution pathways of steroids in the laboratory. Anhydrous pyrolysis experiments were conducted in sealed gold tubes at temperatures ranging from 150 °C to 600 °C using heating rates of 2 °C/h and 20 °C/h, and the products were analyzed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. For the pure cholesterol experiments, the formation of sterenes, steranes and monoaroamtic steroids, and finally triaromatic steroids occurred at EasyRo ~ 0.42%, 0.73%, and 1.36%, respectively. All species were converted into smaller moieties such as phenanthrenes, pyrenes, etc., at EasyRo > 1.69%. The presence of elemental sulfur in the pyrolysis experiments significantly increased the rate of the thermal evolution of steroids, with an earlier onset of the generation of smaller moieties such as methylphenanthrenes and dimethylphenanthrenes at EasyRo 0.86%. Diasterenes and diasteranes were not observed in either the pure cholesterol or the cholesterol with elemental sulfur experiments. The aromatization path starting from the C-ring of steroids was not observed in the experiments using pure cholesterol but occurred in the sulfur-containing series. The presence of sulfur significantly increased the rate of isomerization and aromatization of steranes, especially sterane ring isomerization, and increased the equilibrium values of isomerization parameters by 0.1–0.2 compared to that of the pure cholesterol series. These findings indicate that the presence of sulfur-containing species has important implications for the thermal evolution of steroids.

类固醇广泛用于地球化学研究。它们在活生物体，沉积物和石油中很常见，并且地下类固醇化合物的成岩途径已被很好地理解。但是，关于它们的热演化（例如异构化，芳构化和裂化），仍然存在一些问题，例如各种甾体化合物的形成和变化速率以及催化对这些过程的影响，特别是硫磺可能产生的影响。包含物种。为了解决这些问题，在实验室中使胆固醇与胆固醇和元素硫的混合物反应以模拟类固醇的热释放途径。在150°C至600°C的密封金管中以2°C / h和20°C / h的加热速率进行无水热解实验，并通过气相色谱和气相色谱-质谱法分析产物。对于纯胆固醇实验，固醇，固烷和单芳族类固醇，最后是三芳族类固醇的形成分别为EasyRo〜0.42％，0.73％和1.36％。所有物种均以EasyRo> 1.69％转化为较小的部分，例如菲，pyr等。在热解实验中元素硫的存在显着提高了类固醇的热释放速率，并且更早地以EasyRo 0.86％的形式产生了较小的部分，例如甲基菲和二甲基菲。在纯胆固醇或元素硫实验中均未观察到异戊二烯和非异戊烷。在使用纯胆固醇的实验中未观察到从类固醇的C环开始的芳香化路径，但发生在含硫系列中。与纯胆固醇系列相比，硫的存在显着提高了甾烷的异构化和芳构化的速率，特别是甾烷环的异构化，并使异构化参数的平衡值提高了0.1-0.2。这些发现表明，含硫物质的存在对类固醇的热释放具有重要意义。在使用纯胆固醇的实验中未观察到从类固醇的C环开始的芳香化路径，但发生在含硫系列中。与纯胆固醇系列相比，硫的存在显着提高了甾烷的异构化和芳构化的速率，特别是甾烷环的异构化，并使异构化参数的平衡值提高了0.1-0.2。这些发现表明，含硫物质的存在对类固醇的热释放具有重要意义。在使用纯胆固醇的实验中未观察到从类固醇的C环开始的芳香化路径，但发生在含硫系列中。与纯胆固醇系列相比，硫的存在显着提高了甾烷的异构化和芳构化的速率，特别是甾烷环的异构化，并使异构化参数的平衡值提高了0.1-0.2。这些发现表明，含硫物质的存在对类固醇的热释放具有重要意义。与纯胆固醇系列相比，异构化参数的平衡值提高了0.1-0.2。这些发现表明，含硫物质的存在对类固醇的热释放具有重要意义。与纯胆固醇系列相比，异构化参数的平衡值提高了0.1-0.2。这些发现表明，含硫物质的存在对类固醇的热释放具有重要意义。