Mass spectrometry in the characterization of ambers. II. Free succinic acid in fossil resins of different origin.

Baltic amber contains high levels of succinic acid, most of which is part of the polymer framework, and only recently has the presence of microcrystals of free succinic acid been documented by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. The determination of succinic acid can be used for an easy identification of Baltic amber among other fossil resins and to distinguish it from imitations, widely diffused on the market, produced with natural or modified recent or sub-fossil resins, such as copals. We report here a simple method, based on negative ion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, for evaluating the free succinic acid content in water/methanol extracts of ambers from different origin, using a sample of about 20 mg. The limit of quantification is better than 1 ppm and, when applied to a set of amber samples of different origin, it was able to distinguish those of Baltic origin (showing free succinic acid levels in the range 50-400 ppm) from the others (for which succinic acid was undetectable, i.e. at levels lower than 1 ppm).