Characterization of Carbonyl-Phenol Adducts Produced by Food Phenolic Trapping of 4-Hydroxy-2-hexenal and 4-Hydroxy-2-nonenal.

4-Hydroxy-2-alkenals disappear in the presence of food phenolics (i.e., cathechin or quercetin), and the corresponding carbonyl-phenol adducts are produced. In an attempt to identify structure(s) of formed adducts, the reactions between model phenolics (resorcinol, 2-methylresorcinol, orcinol, and 2,5-dimethylresorcinol) and hydroxyalkenals (4-hydroxy-2-hexenal and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal) were studied and the produced adducts were isolated by column chromatography and unambiguously characterized by one- and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry as dihydrobenzofuranols (1), chromane-2,7-diols (2), and 2 H-chromen-7-ols (3). These compounds were mainly produced at slightly basic pH values and moderate temperatures. Their activation energies ( Ea) of formation were ∼25 kJ mol-1 for adducts 1, ∼32 kJ mol-1 for adducts 2, and ∼38 kJ mol-1 for adducts 3. A reaction pathway that explains their formation is proposed. All of these results confirm that, analogously to other lipid-derived carbonyl compounds, phenolics can trap 4-hydroxy-2-alkenals in an efficient way. Obtained results provide the basis for the potential detection of carbonyl-phenol adducts derived from hydroxyalkenals in food products.