Amber, or fossilized plant resin, is best known as jewelry and as a source for preserving organisms through deep history.  More recently, structural analysis of amber and copal (less mature amber) has gained importance in archaeological and botanical research.  Solid-state carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has been very successful in classifying ambers into distinct categories directly on the bulk substance. The results defined five main groups based on their spectral characteristics. Solution-state carbon-13 NMR analysis, which provides sharper and better resolved peaks than solid-state NMR spectroscopy, has not previously been used for structural analysis of amber. In this study, 12 amber and copal (younger) samples soluble in deuterated chloroform (CDCl<sub>3</sub>) were used to study structural characteristics from four of the five Groups (A, B, D, and E). Group C was omitted from this study due to the inability to acquire quality spectra, which occurred in response to lack of solubility in amber samples from Group C. While solution-state carbon-13 NMR analysis of the 12 amber and copal samples in this study confirmed the existence of specific structural trends that characterize Groups A, B, D, and E, this study also revealed that there are more spectral variations within each group.<br/>

First survey of solution-state carbon-13 NMR spectra of ambers

255th National Meeting (2018)

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