Simultaneous Lignin Fractionation and Functionalization under Mild Conditions via Reactive Extraction.

Authors

Davide Rigo, Nadine Kohlhuber, Lukas Fliri, Irina Sulaeva, Daryna Diment, Oliver Musl, Antje Potthast

Published in

ACS omega. Volume 11. Issue 30. Pages 44826-44840. Aug 04, 2026. Epub Jul 17, 2026.

Abstract

Reactive extraction (REx) is a promising route to simultaneously fractionate and upgrade (functionalize) lignin under mild conditions. In this work, hydrothermally treated wood solids (T = 180 °C, t = 45 min, liquid-to-solid ratio = 1) were refluxed for 1 h using acetic acid, formic acid, and ethanol as solvent-reagents. In addition, Amberlyst 15 (Amb-15) was tested as a heterogeneous acid catalyst for REx. The design of the reaction setup allowed to minimize product losses, even when Amb-15 was used, which could be easily removed from the reaction mixture. The extracted lignins showed appreciable amounts of native linkages (28.8-46.4/100 Ar), molar masses of 2.8-13.7 kDa (M _w), and total hydroxy group contents of 4.6-5.8 mmol/g. HSQC NMR analysis proved the incorporation of ethoxy, acetyl, and formyl groups in the extracted lignins in 1.2-2.0/100 Ar, 39.2-39.4/100 Ar, and 12.6-15.4/100 Ar, respectively. The molar masses of the residual cellulosic solids ranged from DP_w of 2900 to 1000, and ¹³C NMR solid-state and solution-state NMR analyses confirmed the functionalization of the residual cellulosic solids as well, though to a low extent.

PMID:
42569108
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 08 Aug 2026.

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