Abstract In the present study, Loblolly pine biomass residue was converted to bio-oil in a two-step process, consisting of 1) fast pyrolysis in the presence of zeolite ZSM-5 as a catalyst to produce pyrolysis oil, 2) hydrogenation of pyrolysis oil using formic acid as the hydrogen source in presence of Ru/activated carbon catalyst. Pyrolysis oils were analyzed by 13C, 31P and HSQC-NMR and the results revealed that the zeolite-induced catalytic fast pyrolysis process led to effective demethoxylation, producing more catechol and p-hydroxy-phenyl hydroxyl groups in the bio-oils, resulting in a decrease in the methoxyl group content by about 85 % and rich aromatic structures in the pyrolysis oils. The properties of pyrolysis oil with and without zeolite were in the bio-oil range. Hydrogenated pyrolysis oil showed that 79 % of the aromatic protons are eliminated and 87 % of protons are aliphatic in nature, with no oxygen attached to the α-carbon.