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Acetone extracts of sapwood and reaction zone of spruce roots attacked by Fomes annosus, collected in February, June and October, were separated into resinous and phenolic fractions. The fractions were further separated by column, thin layer and gas liquid chromatography, followed by biological tests, using Fomes annosus and other rot fungi. The reaction zone contained quantitatively less light petroleum soluble compounds than the sapwood but more acids. The phenolic content was about ten times higher in the reaction zone than in the sapwood. Nine lignans and one simple phenol (4-methylcatechol) were identified and quantitatively estimated in the reaction zone. The resinous fraction of the extract from the reaction zone as well as some of the lignans and 4-methylcatechol inhibited fungal growth, in some cases followed by detoxification and continued growth. The predominant lignan, hydroxymatairesinol, had no effect on Fomes annosus or five other wood degrading fungi. About 15 unidentified phenols were observed, some of them probably of importance as inhibitors, either alone or in combination with other phenols.

Evidence of the detection by radiography of α-conidendrin and hydroxymatairesinol, major lignans of western hemlock wood, is presented. Advantages of this new technique to wood chemists, as well as implications to wood technologists in terms of erroneous measurement of the specific gravity of unextracted wood by X-ray densitometry, are discussed.

Western hemlock heartwood contains patches of tracheids with large amounts of cellular inclusions. Microscopic and chemical examination of the wood showed several types of deposits containing the lignans matairesinol, hydroxymatairesinol and conidendrin. The deposits, which were often relatively pure individual lignans, frequently assumed different physical forms and chemical composition. A check in the wood contained three distinct forms of deposits each of which was a different lignan. Rays contained deposits physically similar to those in adjacent tracheids but, while lignans were present in the tracheids, they were not detected in the rays. Lignans lined tracheid walls as surface films and often encrusted the bordered pits. The amount of lignans in the wood was not related to wet wood zones although surface films and pit encrustations should have an influence on physical properties. The location and physical nature of lignan deposits in western hemlock heartwood indicates their biosynthesis has probably taken place at the heartwood periphery in the vicinity of the half-bordered pit.

Kaltes Aceton Lost aus Fichtenholz etwa 0.5% phenolfreie Stoffe, rund 0.6% einer hauptsachlich Lignane enthaltenden Fraktion und etwa 0.5% eines ligninartigen Anteils, der sich von MW(milled wood)-Lignin nach A. Bjorkman und dem biosynthetischen Lignin oder DHP (Dehydrierungspolymerisat) unter anderem durch einen hoheren Oxydationsgrad unterscheidet. Unter den Lignanen sind 4 bekannte und 4–5 neue isoliert worden, deren Konstitution aufgeklart wurde.