Issue 2, 2019

Hydrogenolysis of biorefinery corncob lignin into aromatic phenols over activated carbon-supported nickel

Abstract

Lignin is the most abundant renewable resource for production of bio-aromatic chemicals. However, the catalytic depolymerisation of lignin into phenolic monomers is still challenging due to its intrinsic heterogeneity. Herein, we report that Ni/AC can serve as an efficient and stable catalyst in the hydrogenolysis of biorefinery corncob lignin into low-molecular-weight aromatics. This catalyst showed high activity towards reductive fragmentation of hydroxycinnamic esters and β-O-4 linkages through scission by reaction with hydrogen to cleave C–O bonds. Under optimal conditions, this catalytic system produced 31% selectivity towards unsaturated substituents containing coumarate and ferulate derivatives, which afforded mono-aromatic phenols (up to 12.1 wt%) derived from hydroxycinnamic acid moieties (8.1 wt%) and β-O-4 units (2.7 wt%), respectively. The use of non-precious metals to develop highly efficient heterogeneous catalysts makes this approach of great interest in the production of aromatic phenols for the valorisation of industrial lignin.

Graphical abstract: Hydrogenolysis of biorefinery corncob lignin into aromatic phenols over activated carbon-supported nickel

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
17 Jul 2018
Accepted
21 Sep 2018
First published
21 Sep 2018

Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2019,3, 401-408

Hydrogenolysis of biorefinery corncob lignin into aromatic phenols over activated carbon-supported nickel

S. Wang, W. Gao, L. Xiao, J. Shi, R. Sun and G. Song, Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2019, 3, 401 DOI: 10.1039/C8SE00359A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements