IntroductionAqueous–methanol mixtures have successfully been applied to extract a broad range of metabolites from plant tissue. However, a certain amount of material remains insoluble.ObjectivesTo enlarge the metabolic compendium, two ionic liquids were selected to extract the methanol insoluble part of trunk from Betula pendula.MethodsThe extracted compounds were analyzed by LC/MS and GC/MS.ResultsThe results show that 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (IL-Ac) predominantly resulted in fatty acids, whereas 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tosylate (IL-Tos) mostly yielded phenolic structures. Interestingly, bark yielded more ionic liquid soluble metabolites compared to interior wood.ConclusionFrom this one can conclude that the application of ionic liquids may expand the metabolic snapshot. |