1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the high-molecular-weight (> 104) polyphenol fraction from Fucusvesiculosus, before and after acetylation or methylation, demonstrates that it is composed of phloroglucinol units (48.9 ± 3.5%) and 2,2′,4,4′,6,6′-hexahydroxybiphenyl, 2,2′,2″,4,4′,4″,6,6′,6″-nonahydroxy-1,1′:3′1″-terphenyl, and related quater-and polyphenyl groups (together, 51.1 ± 3.5%) linked by ether bonds, each bond involving the carbinol and methine carbons of different units and the formal loss of a molecule of hydrogen. The polymer is highly branched, with ca. 20 – 22% of the constituent units being chain termini; there is no evidence for large rings of units. Approximately 5 – 10% of the phloroglucinol and 54 – 82% of the directly bonded units occur on the exterior of the molecule, whereas the interior backbone consists predominantly of ether-linked phloroglucinol units.
