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Degradation of Vanillin During Lignin Valorization Under Alkaline Oxidation

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Abstract

The preparation of vanillin from lignin is one of the lignin valorization strategies. However, obtaining high vanillin yield is still a challenge. Therefore, the process of vanillin production and factors that affect yield of vanillin has attracted much attention. Here, oxidation of vanillin was performed to study its degradation behavior under lignin alkaline oxidation conditions. High-performance liquid chromatography, liquid chromatography–electrospray mass spectrometry, gas chromatography–mass spectrometer and gel permeation chromatography were employed to analyze the products including monomers and dimers. Results demonstrated that reaction temperature and time greatly affected vanillin degradation; vanillin can be completely converted in 5 h at 160 °C. At 160 °C, the main products of vanillin oxidation were small molecule acids and alcohols, other monophenols, and even condensed dimers. A possible vanillin degradation pathway was proposed. The results indicate that vanillin degradation and condensation are the main reasons for decreasing vanillin yield during lignin valorization under alkaline oxidation circumstances.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by NSFC (National Natural Science Foundation of China) project (nos. 51476175, 51606205), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 51536009) and Chinese Academy of Sciences “one hundred talented plan” (no. y507y51001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, People’s Republic of China

    Yuting Zhu, Jing Liu, Wei Lv, Longlong Ma & Chenguang Wang

  2. Key Laboratory of Renewable Energy, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, People’s Republic of China

    Yuting Zhu, Jing Liu, Wei Lv, Longlong Ma & Chenguang Wang

  3. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New and Renewable Energy Research and Development, Guangzhou, 510640, People’s Republic of China

    Yuting Zhu, Jing Liu, Wei Lv, Longlong Ma & Chenguang Wang

  4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Yuting Zhu & Jing Liu

  5. Center for Surface Chemistry and Catalysis, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, 3001, Heverlee, Belgium

    Yuhe Liao

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  1. Yuting Zhu
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  2. Jing Liu
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  3. Yuhe Liao
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Correspondence to Chenguang Wang.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection “Lignin Chemistry”; edited by Luis Serrano, Rafael Luque, Bert Sels.

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Zhu, Y., Liu, J., Liao, Y. et al. Degradation of Vanillin During Lignin Valorization Under Alkaline Oxidation. Top Curr Chem (Z) 376, 29 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41061-018-0208-1

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