Gas chromatographic and mass spectrometric analysis of 36 lignin-related methoxyphenols from uncontrolled combustion of wood.

Eighteen 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl (guaiacyl) compounds in wood smoke from spruce, and 18 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxyphenyl (syringyl) analogues in birchwood smoke were analysed. Smoke samples were taken by a gas syringe from wood burning under varying but more or less choked conditions in laboratory pot experiments. Retention index data for a methylsilicone column and basic mass spectral data are given for all compounds. Retention index in combination with molecular mass and structure-specific fragment ions greatly facilitates qualitative analysis. The syringyl and guaiacyl analogues differ by 240 units in retention index and the matching structure-specific ions in their mass spectra by 30 mass units. The identified methoxyphenols differ in the structure of the sidechain, which may be lacking, an alkyl group, an alkenyl group, a carbonyl-containing group or an alcoholic moiety. The proportions between these groups of compounds varied strongly with combustion conditions whereas the proportions of phenols within them were quite specific for each group. The phenols with reactive olefinic linkages in the sidechain were present in larger proportions than reported in other studies of methoxyphenols.