The catalytic power of Ca-nontronite (0.2–2 μm) for the polycondensation of phenols and glycine and the associated reactions that involve the ring cleavage of phenols and the decarboxylation and deamination of glycine was studied in systems free of microbial activity. At the end of a 90-hr reaction period, the amount of CO2 released from the Ca-nontronite-glycine-pyrogallol, Ca-nontronite-glycine-eatechol, and Ca-nontronite-glycine-hydroquinone systems were 5.1, 8.7, and 11.6 times higher, respectively, than those from the respective nontronite-free systems, showing the catalytic role of Ca-nontronite in the ring cleavage of phenols and the decarboxylation of glycine. The release of CO2 and NH3 from the Ca-nontronite-glycine system revealed that Ca-nontronite can catalyze decarboxylation and deamination of glycine. The ability of Ca-nontronite to catalyze the deamination of glycine was substantially enhanced by the presence of a phenol. The visible absorbances at both 472 and 664 nm of the supernatants, the total yields of N-containing humic polymers, and the fractions of glycine converted to nitrogenous polymers indicated that polycondensation of glycine and phenol was greatly catalyzed by Ca-nontronite. The total N-containing humic polymers formed in the systems decreased in the order: Ca-nontronite-glycine-pyrogallol > Ca-nontronite-glycine-cateehol > Ca-nontronite-glycine-hydroquinone > glycine-pyrogallol > glycine-hydroquinone > glycine-catechol. The infrared and electron spin resonance spectra of humic acid (HA) and fulvic acid (FA) formed in the supernatants of the reaction systems were quite similar to those of soil HA and FA. The catalytic power of Ca-nontronite in affecting the ring cleavage of phenols, deamination and decarboxylation of amino acids, and formation of humic substances derived from phenols with amino acids in soils and the related environments thus merits attention.

Polycondensation reactions between amino acids and phenols are one of the pathways for the formation of humic substances, and clay minerals are able to catalyse these reactions. To investigate the catalytic power of allophane, an allophane fraction (ALF) was separated from weathered pumice (WP) that contained imogolite as an impurity by taking advantage of differences in sedimentation velocity. The iron content in the separated ALF was increased by up to 3.0% compared to that in the starting WP (1.3%), and the ALF was further treated with sodium dithionate and citric acid (ALF-DC) to remove the iron. The catalytic powers of WP, ALF and ALF-DC were evaluated, based on the degree of darkening of reaction mixtures from polycondensation reactions between catechol and tryptophan, model compounds for precursors of humic substances. The catalytic power for ALF was significantly higher than the corresponding values for WP and ALF-DC. This can be attributed to the high iron content of the ALF, which serves as a Lewis acid that can enhance nucleophilic reactions which occur during the polycondensation reactions.