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Title: Chemoselective methylation of phenolic hydroxyl group prevents quinone methide formation and repolymerization during lignin depolymerization

Journal Article · · ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [2]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3];  [1]
  1. Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA (United States); Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
  2. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  3. Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Chemoselective blocking of the phenolic hydroxyl (Ar-OH) group by methylation was found to suppress secondary repolymerization and charring during lignin depolymerization. Methylation of Ar-OH prevents formation of reactive quinone methide intermediates, which are partly responsible for undesirable secondary repolymerization reactions. Instead, this structurally modified lignin produces more relatively low molecular weight products from lignin depolymerization compared to unmodified lignin. This result demonstrates that structural modification of lignin is desirable for production of low molecular weight phenolic products. This approach could be directed toward alteration of natural lignification processes to produce biomass that is more amenable to chemical depolymerization.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States); Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), Emeryville, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830; AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1349690
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1468340
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-122183
Journal Information:
ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, Vol. 5, Issue 5; ISSN 2168-0485
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 43 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Solvation effect on binding modes of model lignin dimer compounds on MWW 2D-zeolite journal September 2019
Recent Efforts to Prevent Undesirable Reactions From Fractionation to Depolymerization of Lignin: Toward Maximizing the Value From Lignin journal September 2018