The use of lignin for material and chemical applications has gained interest in recent times due to the environmental focus on using biomass for renewable materials as well as the motivation to valorize lignin as part of an integrated biorefinery. While a wealth of publications can be found for lignin-derived materials, and several reviews can be found on the topic, there are no reviews that outline and critically assess the sustainability of these protocols based on the criterion of the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry. This review assesses the literature for lignin-derived polymers over the past 20 years and highlights attempts to use biobased accompanying reagents, green solvents or solvent-less protocols, reports that replace traditionally toxic precursors (e.g. diisocyanates for polyurethanes), use mild conditions, valorize additional waste streams and prepare materials particularly biodegradable or recyclable. The following work is a comprehensive and critical assessment of the green and sustainable nature of the state-of-the art of lignin-derived polymers (polyurethane, polyester, epoxy, phenolic resin, and others) utilizing actual biomass in the synthetic protocol. Each section of this review highlights and assesses published protocols that use a particularly green approach in one or more steps of the synthetic sequence. While many reports still contain traditional petroleum-derived and toxic methods along with more sustainable methods, the outline of all such green methods is able to create a landscape amidst lignin-derived polymer synthesis that points the way toward safer and more environmentally friendly materials.

木质素在材料和化学应用中的使用近来引起了人们的兴趣，这是因为环境关注于将生物质用于可再生材料以及将木质素作为综合生物精炼厂的一部分进行增值的动机。尽管可以找到大量有关木质素衍生材料的出版物，并且可以找到关于该主题的一些评论，但是没有评论根据绿色化学12原则对这些协议的可持续性进行概述和严格评估。这篇评论评估了过去20年木质素衍生聚合物的文献，并重点介绍了使用生物基伴随试剂，绿色溶剂或无溶剂方案的尝试，报道了替代传统有毒前体（例如聚氨酯的二异氰酸酯），使用条件温和，评估额外的废物流，并准备特别可生物降解或可回收的材料。以下工作是对木质素衍生的聚合物（聚氨酯，聚酯，环氧树脂，酚醛树脂及其他）在合成规程中利用实际生物量的最新技术的绿色和可持续性的全面而严格的评估。本综述的每个部分重点介绍和评估已发布的方案，这些方案在合成序列的一个或多个步骤中使用特别绿色的方法。尽管许多报告仍然包含传统的石油衍生和有毒方法以及更可持续的方法，但所有这些绿色方法的提纲能够在木质素衍生的聚合物合成中创造一个新的环境，为更安全，更环保的材料指明了道路。