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Pyrolysis–GC/MS of sinapyl and coniferyl alcohol

2012; Elsevier BV; Volume: 99; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.jaap.2012.10.001

1873-250X

Anne E. Harman‐Ware, Mark Crocker, Aman Preet Kaur, Mark S. Meier, Dawn M. Kato, Bert C. Lynn,

Plant Gene Expression Analysis

Herein we report the fast pyrolysis of the lignin monomers sinapyl and coniferyl alcohol, as well as mixtures of the two, at 650 °C using pyrolysis–GC/MS. The total ion chromatogram area % of certain marker pyrolysates for each alcohol were summed and used to calculate sinapyl:guaiacyl (S:G) ratios in the mixtures; these ratios were then plotted against the actual molar S:G ratios of the starting material. 13 coniferyl alcohol marker pyrolysates and 9 sinapyl alcohol marker pyrolysates provided acceptable linear correlation, whereas several other marker groups chosen did not correlate to the actual S:G ratio in the starting material. Results indicated that the demethoxylation of sinapyl alcohol and/or its pyrolysates occurs during pyrolysis at 650 °C; however, the amount of demethoxylated products generated is statistically insignificant. Having obtained the pyrolysis profile of the various S:G mixtures, marker pyrolysates for the calculation of the S:G ratio in lignin can be carefully selected according to unique samples. These marker groups can then be calibrated against known S:G ratios to provide analysis of the actual S:G ratio of lignin in biomass. For example, pyrolysates chosen from the pyrolysis of peach pit lignin were calibrated in order to determine the S:G ratio in peach pit lignin. The resulting S:G ratio was similar to that obtained from capillary electrophoresis of the products from KMnO4 oxidation of the peach pit lignin.