TY - JOUR
T1 - Organosolv Pretreatment of Cocoa Pod Husks
T2 - Isolation, Analysis, and Use of Lignin from an Abundant Waste Product
AU - Davidson, Daniel J
AU - Lu, Fei
AU - Faas, Laura
AU - Dawson, Daniel M
AU - Warren, Geoffrey P
AU - Panovic, Isabella
AU - Montgomery, James R D
AU - Ma, Xiaoyan
AU - Bosilkov, Boris G
AU - Slawin, Alexandra M Z
AU - Lebl, Tomas
AU - Chatzifragkou, Afroditi
AU - Robinson, Steve
AU - Ashbrook, Sharon E
AU - Shaw, Liz J
AU - Lambert, Smilja
AU - Van Damme, Isabella
AU - Gomez, Leonardo D
AU - Charalampopoulos, Dimitris
AU - Westwood, Nicholas J
N1 - © 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.
PY - 2023/10/2
Y1 - 2023/10/2
N2 - Cocoa pod husks (CPHs) represent an underutilized component of the chocolate manufacturing process. While industry's current focus is understandably on the cocoa beans, the husks make up around 75 wt % of the fruit. Previous studies have been dominated by the carbohydrate polymers present in CPHs, but this work highlights the presence of the biopolymer lignin in this biomass. An optimized organosolv lignin isolation protocol was developed, delivering significant practical improvements. This new protocol may also prove to be useful for agricultural waste-derived biomasses in general. NMR analysis of the high quality lignin led to an improved structural understanding, with evidence provided to support deacetylation of the lignin occurring during the optimized pretreatment. Chemical transformation, using a tosylation, azidation, copper-catalyzed click protocol, delivered a modified lignin oligomer with an organophosphorus motif attached. Thermogravimetric analysis was used to demonstrate the oligomer's potential as a flame-retardant. Preliminary analysis of the other product streams isolated from the CPHs was also carried out.
AB - Cocoa pod husks (CPHs) represent an underutilized component of the chocolate manufacturing process. While industry's current focus is understandably on the cocoa beans, the husks make up around 75 wt % of the fruit. Previous studies have been dominated by the carbohydrate polymers present in CPHs, but this work highlights the presence of the biopolymer lignin in this biomass. An optimized organosolv lignin isolation protocol was developed, delivering significant practical improvements. This new protocol may also prove to be useful for agricultural waste-derived biomasses in general. NMR analysis of the high quality lignin led to an improved structural understanding, with evidence provided to support deacetylation of the lignin occurring during the optimized pretreatment. Chemical transformation, using a tosylation, azidation, copper-catalyzed click protocol, delivered a modified lignin oligomer with an organophosphorus motif attached. Thermogravimetric analysis was used to demonstrate the oligomer's potential as a flame-retardant. Preliminary analysis of the other product streams isolated from the CPHs was also carried out.
U2 - 10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c03670
DO - 10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c03670
M3 - Article
C2 - 37799817
SN - 2168-0485
VL - 11
SP - 14323
EP - 14333
JO - ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
JF - ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
IS - 39
ER -