Gc. Galletti et R. Mazzeo, PYROLYSIS-GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS-SPECTROMETRY AND FOURIER-TRANSFORM INFRARED-SPECTROSCOPY OF AMBER, Rapid communications in mass spectrometry, 7(7), 1993, pp. 646-650
Amber samples from archaeological objects belonging to the collection
of the Museo Civico Archeologico of Bologna were analysed by pyrolysis
/gas chromatography/(ion-trap) mass spectrometry (PY/GC/MS) and Fourie
r-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to assess the geographic orig
in of the fossil resin. Both techniques showed potential in the study
of amber, because they require small sample amounts, virtually no samp
le preparation and provide a fingerprint which is highly diagnostic of
the material under investigation. Typical pyrograms, mass spectra and
FTIR spectra are shown and compared to those obtained from standard a
mber of known geographical origin. The usefulness of composite mass sp
ectra, namely mass spectra obtained by summing all or part of the mass
spectra acquired within the pyrogram, to create a library of PY/GC/MS
data and to compare samples is evaluated.