Lignin-Derived Phenolic Compounds and Water Are Effective Cosolvents for Reductive Catalytic Fractionation
Journal Article
·
· ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)
Reductive catalytic fractionation (RCF) is an effective lignin-first biorefining method to extract lignin as a stabilized oil from lignocellulosic biomass. To realize RCF at scale, process modeling has shown that minimizing the use of exogenous organic solvents is critical. To this end, here we investigate the ability of lignin-derived monomers to act as either solvents or cosolvents for RCF. We begin by examining the influence of lignin-derived aromatic compounds (4-propylguaiacol, 4-propylphenol, and propylbenzene) on RCF monomer yields and subsequently extend our analysis to mixtures of 4-propylguaiacol and either methanol or water. We demonstrate that 4-propylguaiacol is an effective solvent for lignin extraction and depolymerization during RCF, especially when used in combination with water as a cosolvent. Cosolvent mixtures of 4-propylguaiacol and water enable up to 81% lignin extraction, monomer yields up to 25 wt %, and postreaction phase separation. However, unlike methanol, water as a cosolvent fails to inhibit aromatic ring hydrogenation when conducted over Ru/C as a catalyst, potentially leading to excess hydrogen consumption in a process utilizing this approach. Nonetheless, these results suggest a promising strategy for eliminating external organic solvents from RCF by utilizing mixtures of lignin-derived compounds and water as alternative extraction solvents.
- Research Organization:
- National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 3014849
- Report Number(s):
- NLR/JA-2A00-96431
- Journal Information:
- ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, Journal Name: ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering Journal Issue: 44 Vol. 13
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Lignin-Derived Phenolic Compounds and Water Are Effective Cosolvents for Reductive Catalytic Fractionation
Tabulated data for Lignin-Derived Phenolic Compounds and Water Are Effective Cosolvents for Reductive Catalytic Fractionation
Calculation of monomer yields, verification of PG concentration approximation, catalyst comparison for neat aromatic RCF, SEM micrographs for postreaction pulps, yields of aqueous-phase sugar derivatives after PG-H2O RCF, reactor pressure transients, GPC comparing pre- and postreaction organic solvent composition, PG-H2O miscibility testing, GPC probing dimer/oligomer fractionation in PG-H2O mixtures for
Dataset
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Mon Jan 12 19:00:00 EST 2026
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OSTI ID:3012881
Tabulated data for Lignin-Derived Phenolic Compounds and Water Are Effective Cosolvents for Reductive Catalytic Fractionation
Dataset
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Mon Jan 12 19:00:00 EST 2026
·
OSTI ID:3012879
Calculation of monomer yields, verification of PG concentration approximation, catalyst comparison for neat aromatic RCF, SEM micrographs for postreaction pulps, yields of aqueous-phase sugar derivatives after PG-H2O RCF, reactor pressure transients, GPC comparing pre- and postreaction organic solvent composition, PG-H2O miscibility testing, GPC probing dimer/oligomer fractionation in PG-H2O mixtures for
Dataset
·
Mon Jan 12 19:00:00 EST 2026
·
OSTI ID:3012880