LAUSR

Abstract Zhaotong lignite (ZL) was subjected to ethanolysis at 305 °C to afford soluble portion 1 (SP 1 ) and residue 1 (R 1 ). R 1 was ethanolyzed with NaOH at 305 °C to obtain soluble portion 2 (SP 2 ) and residue 2 (R 2 ). SP 2 was separated to extracts 1–3 (E 1 -E 3 ) by sequential extraction with petroleum ether, carbon disulfide, and dichloromethane. SP 1 and E 1 -E 3 were analyzed with a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer, while ZL, R 1 , and R 2 were characterized with a Curie-point pyrolyzer-gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer. The total yield of SP 1 and E 1 -E 3 is 88.8%, indicating that most of organic matter in ZL was converted to soluble species by the two-step depolymerization. Ethyl alkanoates are the most abundant species detected in SP 1 . The distribution of group components in SP 1 is quite different from that in the pyrolysis products from ZL, e.g., the relative content of alkoxyphenols is much lower than that of phenol and alkylphenols in SP 1 , but much higher in the pyrolysis products from ZL, indicating that the mechanism for ZL ethanolysis is quite different from that for ZL pyrolysis. Carbazole is the predominant nitrogen-containing compound in the products from R 1 pyrolysis. Sulfur-containing organic compounds were only released from R 2 pyrolysis. The mechanisms for the formation of typical group components from the ethanolysis of ZL, NaOH-involved ethanolysis of R 1 , and pyrolysis of ZL, R 1 , and R 2 were discussed.