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7732091 
Journal Article 
New Method to Isolate Gamma-Thujaplicin from Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata Donn.) 
Liu, Z; Daniels, CR; Morris, PI 
2010 
1 
Journal of Wood Chemistry and Technology
ISSN: 0277-3813 
30 
3 
299-314 
English 
WOS:000281875800006 
Western red cedar (WRC) (Thuja plicata Donn.) is one of the most durable softwoods in North America, and this durability has largely been attributed to its tropolone content. Further studies on factors contributing to the durability of this species require isolation of substantial quantities of the active components. Wood meal from the heartwood butt of a WRC tree was extracted with hexane for 24 hours. The thujaplicin mixture was obtained by chloroform extraction of the alkali solution adjusted to a pH of 6.5. With chemical conversion and regeneration, the selected compound, gamma-thujaplicin, was isolated from the thujaplicin mixture and characterized by Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy, High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Mass Spectroscopy (MS), 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS), a color test, and comparison with standard gamma-thujaplicin. Relative purity reached up to 99%. Additionally, a by-product, nezukone, could be also isolated from the hexane extractives. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. 
Gamma-thujaplicin; GC-MS; HPLC; identification; isolation; MS; western red cedar