| Title |
Organic Chemicals from Wood: Selective Depolymerization and Dearomatization of Lignin via Aqueous Electrocatalysis |
| ID_Doc |
12933 |
| Authors |
Lindenbeck, LM; Barra, VC; Dahlhaus, S; Brand, S; Wende, LM; Beele, BB; Schebb, NH; Rodrigues, BVM; Slabon, A |
| Title |
Organic Chemicals from Wood: Selective Depolymerization and Dearomatization of Lignin via Aqueous Electrocatalysis |
| Year |
2024 |
| Published |
Chemsuschem, 17.0, 9 |
| DOI |
10.1002/cssc.202301617 |
| Abstract |
Replacing crude oil as the primary industrial source of carbon-based chemicals has become crucial for both environmental and resource sustainability reasons. In this scenario, wood arises as an excellent candidate, whilst depolymerization approaches have emerged as promising strategies to unlock the lignin potential as a resource in the production of high-value organic chemicals. However, many drawbacks, such as toxic solvents, expensive catalysts, high energy inputs, and poor product selectivity have represented major challenges to this task. Herein, we present an unprecedented approach using electrocatalysis for the simultaneous depolymerization and dearomatization of lignin in aqueous medium under ambient conditions. By employing water/sodium carbonate as a solvent system, we demonstrated a pathway for selectively depolymerizing lignin under reductive electrochemical conditions using carbon as an electrocatalyst. After reductive electrocatalysis, the presence of aromatic compounds was no longer detected via nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Further characterization by NMR, FTIR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry revealed the major presences of sodium levulinate, sodium 4-hydroxyvalerate, sodium formate, and sodium acetate as products. By achieving a complete dearomatization, valuable aliphatic intermediates with enhanced reactivity were selectively obtained, opening new avenues for further synthesis of many different organic chemicals, and contributing to a more sustainable and circular economy. An unprecedented strategy has been proposed, using electrocatalysis to selectively depolymerize lignin into valuable aliphatic compounds in an aqueous solvent system under ambient conditions. Our innovative approach breaks down lignin's aromatic structure, yielding sodium levulinate, sodium 4-hydroxyvalerate, sodium formate, and sodium acetate as major products, representing an important milestone into lignin valorization and sustainability.+image |
| Author Keywords |
biomass; dearomatization; depolymerization; electrochemistry; lignin |
| Index Keywords |
Index Keywords |
| Document Type |
Other |
| Open Access |
Open Access |
| Source |
Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) |
| EID |
WOS:001143275000001 |
| WoS Category |
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary; Green & Sustainable Science & Technology |
| Research Area |
Chemistry; Science & Technology - Other Topics |
| PDF |
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/cssc.202301617
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