The identification of dilignols from dehydrogenation mixtures of coniferyl alcohol and apocynol [4-(1-Hydroxyethyl)-2-methoxyphenol] by LC-ES-MS/MS.

A LC-ES-MS/MS method for the identification of dilignols formed by the oxidative cross-coupling of coniferyl alcohol and apocynol has been developed. The identification is based on the generation of ammonium adduct ions [M + NH(4)](+) by electrospray ionization and thereafter the following fragmentation patterns for the selected precursor ions. Fragmentation of several arylglycerol-beta-aryl ether (beta-O-4) and phenyl coumarane (beta-5) model compounds were studied as a reference.