Pyrolysis of saccharide tobacco ingredients: a TGA-FTIR investigation

The infrared spectra were deconvoluted off-line using a multivariate (target-factor) analysis, which tested the significance of individual hypothetical compounds in the presence of a host of other unknown analytes. The common degradation products monitored from the 13 saccharides were carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, water and methane. In addition, acetic acid, formaldehyde, acrolein, acetaldehyde, ethanol and furfural were produced from some saccharides but not all. The formation rate for each compound identified was monitored as a function of temperature. Some products were generated in several distinct temperature regions, indicating that more than one mechanism of pyrolysis was operating in a given saccharide. The work has indicated that formaldehyde is generated from the pyrolysis of most of the saccharides in 10% oxygen in nitrogen.