Effect of metal triflates on the microwave-assisted catalytic hydrogenolysis of birch wood lignin to monophenolic compounds

TY - JOUR

T1 - Effect of metal triflates on the microwave-assisted catalytic hydrogenolysis of birch wood lignin to monophenolic compounds

AU - Liu, Xudong

AU - Bouxin, Florent P.

AU - Fan, Jiajun

AU - Gammons, Richard

AU - Budarin, Vitaliy L.

AU - Hu, Changwei

AU - Clark, James H.

N1 - Funding Information: This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21536007 ), the 111 project (No. B17030 ) and the Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst ( Innovate UK , BBSRC , EPSRC ) to support the translation, development and commercialization of innovative industrial Biotechnology processes ( EP/N013522/1 ). X. Liu acknowledges the support from Doctoral Graduate Student’s Academic Visit Project of Sichuan University . Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier B.V. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/9/1

Y1 - 2021/9/1

N2 - The lignin-first biorefinery strategy could produce bio-based phenols from the extraction and depolymerization of native lignin in lignocellulosic biomass. Herein, we report an effective Lewis acid-promoted delignification and production of monophenolic compounds in birch sawdust assisted by microwave heating without external hydrogen for the first time. The screening of different metal triflates revealed that Fe(OTf)3 was best for the delignification and depolymerization of birch sawdust. Without the addition of a Lewis acid, the yield of monophenolic compounds was 10.5 wt% (based on the lignin content in birch sawdust), while it increased significantly to 32.9 wt% with the addition of Fe(OTf)3 (0.0276 g) under the identical conditions (190 °C, 1 h), which demonstrated the catalytic C[sbnd]O[sbnd]C bond scission promoted by Fe(OTf)3. Simultaneously, the delignification degree also rose sharply from 32.6 wt% to 47.5 wt%. This work demonstrated the efficient Fe(OTf)3-induced delignification and depolymerization of lignin in birch sawdust to obtain a high yield of monophenolic compounds without external hydrogen assisted by microwave heating, representing a novel advance in the “lignin-first” biorefinery field.

AB - The lignin-first biorefinery strategy could produce bio-based phenols from the extraction and depolymerization of native lignin in lignocellulosic biomass. Herein, we report an effective Lewis acid-promoted delignification and production of monophenolic compounds in birch sawdust assisted by microwave heating without external hydrogen for the first time. The screening of different metal triflates revealed that Fe(OTf)3 was best for the delignification and depolymerization of birch sawdust. Without the addition of a Lewis acid, the yield of monophenolic compounds was 10.5 wt% (based on the lignin content in birch sawdust), while it increased significantly to 32.9 wt% with the addition of Fe(OTf)3 (0.0276 g) under the identical conditions (190 °C, 1 h), which demonstrated the catalytic C[sbnd]O[sbnd]C bond scission promoted by Fe(OTf)3. Simultaneously, the delignification degree also rose sharply from 32.6 wt% to 47.5 wt%. This work demonstrated the efficient Fe(OTf)3-induced delignification and depolymerization of lignin in birch sawdust to obtain a high yield of monophenolic compounds without external hydrogen assisted by microwave heating, representing a novel advance in the “lignin-first” biorefinery field.

KW - Birch

KW - Lignin

KW - Metal triflates

KW - Microwave

KW - Monophenolic compounds

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85104060176&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.indcrop.2021.113515

DO - 10.1016/j.indcrop.2021.113515

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85104060176

SN - 0926-6690

VL - 167

JO - INDUSTRIAL CROPS AND PRODUCTS

JF - INDUSTRIAL CROPS AND PRODUCTS

M1 - 113515

ER -