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Evidence for demethylation of syringyl moieties in archaeological wood using pyrolysis‐gas chromatography/mass spectrometry
Author(s) -
van Bergen Pim F.,
Poole Imogen,
Ogilvie Ticca M.A.,
Caple Chris,
Evershed Richard P.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
rapid communications in mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.528
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1097-0231
pISSN - 0951-4198
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0231(20000130)14:2<71::aid-rcm837>3.0.co;2-9
Subject(s) - chemistry , demethylation , lignin , pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry , pyrolysis , mass spectrometry , lability , mass spectrum , organic chemistry , gas chromatography , gas chromatography–mass spectrometry , chromatography , biochemistry , gene expression , dna methylation , gene
Archaeological oak ( Quercus sp.) wood samples, ranging from 16 th C. AD to 6000 BP, were studied using flash pyrolysis‐gas chromatography/mass spectrometry to obtain insight into angiosperm lignin degradation. The pyrolysates revealed evidence of a number of 3‐methoxy‐1,2‐benzenediol derivatives, methoxycatechols, directly related to 2,6‐dimethoxyphenol, syringyl, moieties which are characteristic building blocks of angiosperm lignin. Mass spectra and mass chromatograms of these compounds are reported. The finding of these characteristic pyrolysis products in well‐preserved archaeological wood provides unequivocal evidence that demethylation of syringyl units occurs very early in wood degradation. It is highly likely that the absence of abundant 3‐methoxy‐1,2‐benzenediols in degrading plant materials containing angiosperm lignin relates to the lability of these newly formed moieties. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.