BRC Science Highlight 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 Ø Conduct a revised compositional characterization of the recently discovered C-lignin present in seedcoats of vanilla, and determine C-lignin’s reactivity and stability. Ø Attempt to convert the C-lignin polymer to monomers in near-quantitative yield, using hydrogenolysis. Results/Impacts Ø 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. Ø 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. Ø 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, eaau 2968 (2018) [DOI: 10. . 1126/sciadv. aau 2968]. GLBRC September 2018 Department of Energy • Office of Science • Biological and Environmental Research
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