Redox-Controlled Functional Differentiation of Dual-Chrysene Catalyst Families: The Hopane–Sterane Record across the GOE and NOE

Abstract

The contamination-controlled molecular fossil record exhibits a pronounced temporal asymmetry: hopanes dominate mid-Proterozoic assemblages while remaining abundant, and regular 4-desmethyl steranes rise only from the late Tonian onward. Independent paleoredox proxies partition the same interval into three successive atmospheric regimes—primordial anaerobic conditions (pO2 < 10^-5 PAL), post-GOE mid-Proterozoic conditions (~0.1-2% PAL), and the Neoproterozoic rise toward modern levels (~21% absolute).

Under the Identification Hypothesis the dual-chrysene reactive volume of U.S. Patent 12,195,423 supplies both Family H (hopanoid-directed) and Family S (sterol-directed) geometries under anaerobic conditions. Family H is constitutively processed into membrane-embedded hopanoids. Family S is initially present at low concentration as a gene- and membrane-associated complex; a structural correspondence between the sterane-family substitution pattern and nucleobase-pairing loci supplies a geometric basis for possible intercalation.

As the redox parameter rho rises, the concentration of Family S increases and the geometry undergoes a continuous transition into a cholesterol-like membrane component that contributes to membrane fluidity, stability and signalling. Both families begin as exogenous products of the metamaterial and are later captured endogenously.

The mid-Proterozoic hopane dominance and late-Tonian sterane rise, occurring against persistent hopane abundance, are the geological expression of this redox-controlled functional differentiation. The underlying lattice, the C2h symmetry of each core, and the chiral step-defect remain invariant.