Lignin is the second most abundant and underutilized heterogeneous biopolymer. Current methods, to depolymerize lignin into valuable fuels and chemicals, are facing challenges. The major barriers to the commercialization of these methods are expensive catalysts, energy cost, and difficulty in the separation of a complex mixture of products. Targeted synthesis of chemicals is aimed to get selective compounds that may offer ease of separation. Vanillin is the only chemical that is manufactured commercially from lignin. A facile, highly efficient, room temperature, and metal-free route to the targeted synthesis of vanillin using ozone produced by non-thermal plasma is presented in the current study. The recovered lignin has been characterized by FTIR, SEM/EDX, and HSQC for determining structural changes. The recovered lignin with a loose structure can be further converted into more valuable products. Operational conditions have been investigated to optimize vanillin production. Under optimum conditions, ~ 60% of vanillin (based on GC–MS analysis) was obtained with only 10 min of treatment. The product selectivity has been controlled by reaction time and reactant lignin concentration. The recovered lignin having a partially oxidized structure can be further subject to depolymerization to get more value from this biopolymer.

木质素是第二丰富且未充分利用的异质生物聚合物。当前将木质素解聚成有价值的燃料和化学品的方法正面临挑战。这些方法商业化的主要障碍是昂贵的催化剂、能源成本以及难以分离复杂的产品混合物。化学品的靶向合成旨在获得可能易于分离的选择性化合物。香兰素是唯一一种从木质素商业化生产的化学品。当前的研究提出了一种简便、高效、室温和无金属的路线，用于使用非热等离子体产生的臭氧靶向合成香草醛。回收的木质素已通过 FTIR、SEM/EDX 和 HSQC 进行表征，以确定结构变化。回收的松散结构的木质素可以进一步转化为更有价值的产品。已经研究了操作条件以优化香兰素生产。在最佳条件下，仅处理 10 分钟即可获得约 60% 的香草醛（基于 GC-MS 分析）。产物选择性由反应时间和反应物木质素浓度控制。回收的具有部分氧化结构的木质素可以进一步进行解聚，以从该生物聚合物中获得更多价值。产物选择性由反应时间和反应物木质素浓度控制。回收的具有部分氧化结构的木质素可以进一步进行解聚，以从该生物聚合物中获得更多价值。产物选择性由反应时间和反应物木质素浓度控制。回收的具有部分氧化结构的木质素可以进一步进行解聚，以从该生物聚合物中获得更多价值。