Abstract
A screening method has been developed for the qualitative and quantitative determination of vanillin, ethylvanillin, coumarin and dihydrocoumarin. The compounds are qualitatively determined by thin-layer chromatography after extraction of tobacco and purification of the extract. The quantitative determination is made by gas chromatography: Coumarin and dihydrocoumarin are determined directly and vanillin and ethylvanillin after silylation in the form of trimethylsilyl derivatives. Detection limit: thin-layer chromatography = 1 µg, gas chromatography = 0.02 µg. The coefficient of variation of the results obtained amounts to 2.4 % for vanillin and to 6.7 % for coumarin