Chemical signatures of fossilized resins and recent plant exudates.

Amber is one of the few gemstones based on an organic structure. Found over most of the world, it is the fossil form of sticky plant exudates called resins. Investigation of amber by modern analytical techniques provides structural information and insight into the identity of the ancient plants that produced the source resin. Mass spectrometric analysis of materials separated by gas chromatography has identified specific compounds that are the basis of a reliable classification of the different types of amber. NMR spectroscopy of bulk, solid amber provides a complementary classification. NMR spectroscopy also can be used to characterize modern resins as well as other types of plant exudates such as gums, gum resins, and kinos, which strongly resemble resins in appearance but have very different molecular constitutions.