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Oxidative cleavage of C–C bonds in lignin

Nature Chemistry volume 13, pages 1118–1125 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Lignin is an aromatic polymer that constitutes up to 30 wt% of woody biomass and is considered the largest source of renewable aromatics. Valorization of the lignin stream is pivotal for making biorefining sustainable. Monomeric units in lignin are bound via C–O and C–C bonds. The majority of existing methods for the production of valuable compounds from lignin are based on the depolymerization of lignin via cleavage of relatively labile C–O bonds within lignin structure, which leads to yields of only 36–40 wt%. The remaining fraction (60 wt%) is a complex mixture of high-molecular-weight lignin, generally left unvalorized. Here we present a method to produce additional valuable monomers from the high-molecular-weight lignin fraction through oxidative C–C bond cleavage. This oxidation reaction proceeds with a high selectivity to give 2,6-dimethoxybenzoquinone (DMBQ) from high-molecular-weight lignin in 18 wt% yield, thus increasing the yield of monomers by 32%. This is an important step to make biorefining competitive with petroleum-based refineries.

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Fig. 1: Valorization strategy of woody biomass.
Fig. 2: Oxidation of lignin model compounds.
Fig. 3: Mechanistic studies of the oxidation of model compound 1.
Fig. 4: Mechanistic studies of the oxidation of model compound 2.
Fig. 5: Oxidation of a mixture of dimers and oligomers obtained after pulping of birch wood.

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Data availability

The data that support the plots within this paper and other findings of this study, such as 1H NMR, 13C NMR and HPLC spectra, as well as experimental procedures and quantum chemical calculations are available in the Supplementary Information.

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Acknowledgements

E.S. and J.S.M.S. thank the Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten, grant nos. 47448-1, 45903-1 and 41262-1). T.R. and J.S.M.S. thank the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant no. 744349). M.D.M.-M. thanks COST (grant no. FP-1306-STSM). M.J. and X.Y. thank Olle Engkvists Stiftelse (grant no. 189-0209) and Åke Åkessons Stiftelse (grant no. 1943229).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Elena Subbotina, Thanya Rukkijakan.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Organic Chemistry, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Elena Subbotina, Thanya Rukkijakan & Joseph S. M. Samec

  2. Department of Organic Chemistry University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain

    M. Dolores Marquez-Medina

  3. Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Xiaowen Yu & Mats Johnsson

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  1. Elena Subbotina
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Contributions

E.S. conceived the idea, designed the study along with J.S.M.S., and wrote the manuscript and the supporting information along with T.R. and J.S.M.S. E.S. performed all of the wood experiments (including the analysis) and wood-derived fractions. E.S. and T.R. performed the synthesis of model compounds and the mechanistic studies. M.D.M.-M. participated in the initial optimizations of the process and participated in the literature search. X.Y. and T.R. performed the electrocatalytic experiments under the supervision of M.J.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joseph S. M. Samec.

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Competing interests

J.S.M. Samec is the founder of RenFuel, a company working on lignin valorization. The other authors do not declare any competing interests.

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Peer review information Nature Chemistry thanks Jeremy Luterbacher and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this file.

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Subbotina, E., Rukkijakan, T., Marquez-Medina, M.D. et al. Oxidative cleavage of C–C bonds in lignin. Nat. Chem. 13, 1118–1125 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-021-00783-2

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