Chemical Composition of Sporopollenin inMagnolia Grandiflora(Magnoliaceae) andHibiscus Syriacus(Malvaceae)

Abstract
The chemical composition of sporopolienin from pollen of Magnolia grandiflora Linn. (Magnoliaceae) and Hibiscus syriacus Linn. (Malvaceae) was investigated by several spectroscopic methods, such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), infrared spectroscopy (IR) and UV-VIS absorption spectroscopy (UV-VIS). The results suggest that sporopollenin consists of only three kinds of element, C, H and O. We could not find any metalic components in sporopolienin. The detail study by XPS suggests that the carbon atom in sporopollenin is mainly aliphatic carbon. The present study implies that the main structure of sporopollenin is a simple aliphatic polymer containing aromatic or conjugated side chains.