Nonmetabolic catalysis of C-furfuryl amino purine (kinetin) on plant surfaces, glass, and porcelain ware

Kinetin-8-¹⁴C degraded rapidly upon drying on living or inert surfaces. However, when care was exercised to avoid taking solutions to dryness during fractionation of plant extracts containing ¹⁴C-kinetin and before partitioning by thin layer chromatography, little degradation occurred. A procedure for 24-hour ethyl acetate partitioning, using a continuous liquid-liquid extractor, which permits nearly complete removal of kinetin from aqueous solutions, is herein described. High natural light intensities in the greenhouse or from fluorescent/incandescent sources greatly enhanced nonmetabolic degradation of kinetin on leaf (Bougainvillea) or glass surfaces, which indicated that this may be a confounding factor in analyzing metabolism of kinetin in plant tissues. One of the degradation products is probably adenine.