The effect of methylbenzene/ethanol ratios on chemical composition of extractives from Eucalyptus grandis

Chemical components of methylbenzene/ethanol extractives of Eucalyptus grandis were identified by GC/MS and different methylbenzene/ethanol solutions (9/1, 4/1, 2/1, 1/1, 1/2) were used to describe their distinctions. The distributions of micro particles in each extractive were studied simultaneously. The results show that there were significant differences between the various extractives, although the extractives were essentially the same, i.e., alcohols, alkanes, esters and acids. With the increase of ethanol composition in the solutions, the total amount of extractives increased; in solvent with higher amounts of ethanol, some acidic structures or acids, such as glutaric acid, could be seen. An investigation of micro particles indicated that the distribution of particle size of each sample did not change greatly between the solutions. A slight decrease in size was seen with the reduction in the amount of methylbenzene.