Wood-Tar Fractionation By Column Chromatography With An Adsorbent Of Acidic Al(2)O(3)

Bio-oil, a complex mixture of organics, can be a source for automobile fuel and for chemicals, it is advantageous to separate the complex mixture to simplified fractions for further treatments. Herein, wood-tar fractionation by column chromatographic separating method by eluting solvents of cyclohexane (or petroleum ether[PE])-dichloromethane-methanol with adsorbent of acidic Al2O3 was investigated. It was found that alkoxyl-monophenols were more concentrated in the cyclohexane or PE fraction. In the dichloromethane fraction, alkyl-monophenols were abundant, and particularly the content of 1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-2-propanone after eluted by PE was distinctly higher. The diphenols of 1,2-benzenediol and 4-methyl-1,2-benzenediol in the methanol fraction were particularly in high contents.