1. An “ideal lignin” for biorefineries
BRC Science Highlight
An “ideal lignin” for biorefineries
Objective Investigate whether catechyl lignin (C-lignin),which is essentially a homopolymer, may actually be an “ideal lignin” for biomass processing.
Approach
Conduct a revised compositional characterization of the recently discovered C-lignin present in seedcoats of vanilla, and determine C-lignin’s reactivity and stability.
Attempt to convert the C-lignin polymer to monomers in near-quantitative yield, using hydrogenolysis.
Results/Impacts
Upon acid treatments, C-lignin retained its key structural features and had little change in its molecular weight distribution, indicating that C-lignin does not suffer from unwanted condensation reactions.
Due to C-lignin’s stability, traditional lignin chemical degradation methods are ineffective on C-lignin. However, essentially all of the C-lignin polymer was depolymerized to monomeric catechol compounds during hydrogenolysis.
Our study provides a new perspective for the production of catechols from a renewable biomass source rather than petroleum; thus, we suggest that continuing to pursue the engineering of C-lignins in planta is a worthwhile endeavor.
Hydrogenolysis monomer yields, from different catalyst and solvent combinations. Yields are on a C-lignin molar basis.
Li, Y. et al. “An “ideal lignin” facilitates full biomass utilization.” Science Advances 4, eaau2968 (2018) [DOI: /sciadv.aau2968].
GLBRC September 2018