A synthetic mixture of 17 components was prepared to simulate the heterogeneous mixture that might be produced by the pyrolysis of a natural product such as tobacco. Each of the constituents was separated by gas chromatography through the use of the adsorption and partition techniques. Mass spectroscopy insured unequivocal identification after the constituents had been isolated by repeated chromatography through various stationary phases.

(Full article published with kind permission from "Tobacco International")