Composition of the Water-soluble Portion of Cellulose Cigarette Smoke Condensate

Abstract

Water-soluble portion of the smoke condensate of cellulose cigarette was studied and 42 compounds-10 lactones, 6 cyclopentanones (or cyclopentenones), 5 pyrans and other compounds-were either positively or tentatively identified. Of these 42 compounds, 12, such as succinaldehyde, 5-hydroxy-2-pentenone, etc., were identified for the first time in cellulose pyrolyzate. Semi-quantitative estimation of some of the major components in water-soluble portion revealed that 1, 6-anhydroglucopyranose (levoglucosan) was the most abundant, followed by 2-hydroxy-3-methyl-2-cyclopentenone (cyclotene), acetol, 2-hydroxy-5-pentanolide,
etc. Glycolaldehyde which seems to be more abundant than cyclotene on chromatogram could not be estimated because of peak tailing. Of these water-soluble com-ponents, succinaldehyde has very pungent and irritating effect and seems to be a cause of the pungent and irritating odor of cellulose cigarette smoke.