Methods of Quantitative Determination of Catechol in Cigarette Smoke Condensate/Methoden der quantitativen Bestimmung des Brenzcatechins im Cigarettenrauch

Three methods of quantitative determination of catechol in cigarette smoke condensate are presented. The procedures are based on:

a.Column chromatography of a smoke condensate solution in chloroform over polyamide powder, followed by elution with ethyl acetate and a spectrophotometric measure in methanol solution;

b.Liquid-liquid partitions of the smoke condensate, followed by a spectrophotometric measure based on a bathochromic shift of the absorption spectrum of catechol; and

c.Vapour-phase chromatography of the phenolic smoke components in the form of their methyl ethers. The procedure a. is best suited as a routine method, as it is easy to execute and gives fairly accurate and precise results. The procedures b. and c. both give less reproducible results, and c. shows insufficient analytical yields. Their advantages are the rapid execution of method b. and the high specificity of method c.

Contents between 200 and 500 µg of catechol per cigarette were found in the smoke of cigarettes.