Revealing Structural Modifications of Lignin in Acidic γ-Valerolactone-H₂O Pretreatment

• Main Authors: Suxiang Li, Chengke Zhao, Fengxia Yue, Fachuang Lu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-01-01
• Series: Polymers
• Subjects: γ-valerolactone; lignin; pretreatment; formaldehyde; 1,3-dioxane
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/12/1/116

&#947;-valerolactone (GVL)/H₂O/acid solvent mixtures has been used in chemical pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass, it was claimed that GVL lignins were structurally close to proto (native) lignins, or having low molecular weight with narrow polydispersity, however, the structural changes of GVL lignins have not been investigated. In this study, &#946;-O-4 (&#946;-aryl ether, <b>GG</b>), &#946;-5 (phenylcoumaran), and &#946;-&#946; (resinol) lignin model compounds were treated by an acidic GVL-H₂O solvent system, a promising pretreatment of lignocellulose for biomass utilization, to investigate the structural changes possibly related to the lignin involved. NMR characterization of the products isolated from the treated <b>GG</b> indicated that a phenyl dihydrobenzofuran, having typical C-H correlations at &#948;_C/&#948;_H 50.74/4.50 and 93.49/4.60 ppm in its HSQC spectrum, was produced from <b>GG</b>. In the pretreatment, the released formaldehyde from <b>GG</b> reacted fast with <b>GG</b> to form a novel 1,3-dioxane intermediate whose characteristic HSQC signals were: &#948;_C/&#948;_H 94.15&#8722;94.48/4.81&#8722;5.18 ppm and 80.82&#8722;83.34/4.50&#8722;4.94 ppm. The &#946;-5 model, dihydrodehydrodiconiferyl alcohol, was converted into phenylcoumarone and stilbene having benzaldehyde that resulted from the allyl alcohol side chain. The &#946;-&#946; model, syringaresinol, was isomerized to form a mixture of syringaresinol, epi-, and dia-syringaresinol although being degraded slightly.