Transfer of Added [18-¹⁴C]Octatriacontane - Cigarette Smoke Formation Studies

Radiolabelled [18-¹⁴C]octatriacontane (C₃₈H₇₈) was used as a model compound to study the transfer of compounds from tobacco into smoke. Non-filter cigarettes were made from Kentucky reference 2R1 cigarette tobacco filler oversprayed with alkane and were smoked on a single-port total recovery smoking machine. Of the recovered activity nearly 60 % was found in the mainstream and sidestream particulate phases of smoke, 5 % in the gaseous phase and 35 % in the butt. Reverse-phase high-performance liquid radiochromatography and thin-layer radiochromatography were used effectively to analyse the cyclohexane extracts of the filler, mainstream and sidestream total particulate matter, and butt. No degradation of the alkane was observed prior to smoking. The radioactivity in the mainstream total particulate matter extracts consisted mostly of intact [¹⁴C]octatriacontane. Sidestream total particulate matter extracts contained both intact octatriacontane and breakdown products. The radioactivity in butt extracts consisted almost entirely of intact octatriacontane, indicating that excess radioactivity in the butt is due to filtration of the intact alkane by the filler rod. The transfer of octatriacontane into mainstream smoke without pyrolytic degradation parallels that of the tobacco alkane dotriacontane.