Countercurrent chromatographic fractionation followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry identification of alkylresorcinols in rye

Alkylresorcinols (5-alkyl-1,3-dihydroxybenzenes, ARs) are bioactive phenolic lipid compounds which are particularly abundant in rye and partly other cereals. In this study on ARs, whole rye grain extracts were gained with cyclohexane/ethyl acetate (46/54, w/w). Silylated extracts were used to develop a gas chromatography with mass spectrometry method in the selected ion monitoring mode (GC/MS-SIM) for the sensitive detection of conventional ARs along with keto-substituted (oxo-AR) and ring-methylated ARs (mAR) with 5-alkyl chain lengths of 14 to 27 carbon atoms and 0 to 4 double bonds in one run. Analysis was performed by countercurrent chromatographic (CCC) fractionation using the solvent system n-hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (9/1/9/1, v/v/v/v). Subsequent GC/MS-(SIM) analysis of 80 silylated CCC fractions enabled the detection of 74 ARs in the sample. The CCC elution of the ARs followed the equivalent chain length (ECL) rule in which one double bond compensated the effect of two (additional) carbon atoms. Novel or rarely reported ARs were detected in virtually all classes, i.e. saturated AR (AR14:0), even-numbered monounsaturated AR isomers (AR16:1-AR26:1), triunsaturated ARs (AR25:3), oxo-ARs (AR17:0 oxo, AR19:1 oxo, AR21:2 oxo, AR23:2 oxo) and odd-numbered methyl-ARs (mAR15:0-mAR23:0). Positions of the double bonds of monounsaturated ARs and oxo-ARs were determined with the help of dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) derivatives. [Figure: see text] ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00216-020-02980-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.