AbstractWood chips were treated with gaseous mixtures of monomethylamine and water vapour at temperatures between 160 and 120°C and pressurs ranging between 1.5 and 7.0 MPa. The degradation products were subsequently extracted with different solvents at ambient pressure. First, The degradation products of lignin were extracted with highly selective organic solvents such as diethyl ether or 2‐butanone. Then, the remaining decomposition products were extracted with water or an aqueous solution of monomethylamine. The latter extract contains the degradation products of the hemicelluloses in a relatively high concentration. After a three hour digestion, the residue obtained from spruce had a lignin content of 3.1 wt‐% (pine: 3.7 wt‐%; birch 0.3 wt‐%). The total yield of unbleached cellulose was approximately 60 wt‐%.