Analysis of Volatile Pyrolytic Products of Tobacco Constituents: Stearic Acid Pyrolysis

A procedure has been developed to collect, transfer, and analyse volatile organic pyrolysis products of tobacco leaf compounds. The volatiles were collected in a series of three traps on adsorbents that also served as substrates for transfer and for introduction of the volatiles into a gas chromatograph. Analytical procedures are described for three gas chromatographic columns packed, respectively, with the three different adsorbents used in the traps. With this system, volatile pyrolyzates were collected and analysed without the use of cryogenic traps, vacuum manifolds, or gas-sampling valves. The applicability of the procedures is demonstrated for the pyrolysis volatiles of stearic acid, a tobacco constituent