Directional depolymerization of lignin into high added-value chemical with synergistic effect of binary solvents

This work exploits a one-pot method for directional depolymerizing organosolv lignin into high added-value phenolic monomers with synergistic reaction system consisted of methanol-dimethoxymethane binary solvents and acid catalyst. The influence of solvent composition and reaction parameters such as different catalyst, binary solvents ratio, time, and temperature on the conversion of lignin and yield of products were investigated carefully, the optimum yield of liquid products and phenolic monomers were achieved at 67.39% and 27.67% at 200 degrees C kept for 60 min with low amount of acid catalyst. The plausible mechanism on the depolymerization of lignin was proposed in view of product distributions. Moreover, the combination of co-solvents and acidic catalyst was also suitable for converting different types of lignin into phenolic monomers, and the recyclability of joint reaction system was satisfactory. These results can provide promising prospects on developing an effective method for achieving high added-value phenolic compounds from lignin.

Automated summary

A one-pot method was used to depolymerize organosolv lignin into high added-value phenolic monomers in a synergistic reaction system with methanol-dimethoxymethane binary solvents and acid catalyst. The optimal conditions for maximum yield of liquid products and phenolic monomers were determined through careful investigation of solvent composition and reaction parameters. The proposed mechanism for lignin depolymerization provides promising prospects for developing effective methods to obtain high added-value phenolic compounds from lignin.