Non-destructive Raman analyses - polyacetylenes in plants

Ferdinand Bohlmann has described the isolation, the identification and the structure elucidation of acetylene compounds in many plants, and confirmed it by its synthesis. We have recorded the Raman spectra of most of these plants non-destructively by FT-Raman spectroscopy using radiation at 1064 nm. We could not observe any interfering fluorescence. We found acetylene compounds in some plants, even distinct compounds with different concentration in various parts of it. The distribution of the different compounds over the plant can be observed and their changes during the ontogenesis can be followed by a FT-Raman mapping technique. Of special help is a library of Raman and IR spectra and the structure of the compounds, synthesized by Bohlmann. Thus, the Raman technique allows analyses in a very short time replacing the usual time-consuming separation procedures and avoiding artefacts during clean-up procedures.