High-performance liquid chromatography of lignin-derived phenols in environmental samples with diode array detection.

Lignin-derived and standard phenols were successfully analyzed with reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with diode array detection. The 11 major phenols produced by cupric oxide (CuO) oxidation were clearly and rapidly separated. Determination by diode array detection also allowed detection of interfering impurities within individual HPLC peaks.