New Structures in Eucalyptus Kraft Lignin with Complex Mechanistic Implications

Abstract

Recent years have seen the development of technically feasible methods to retrieve kraft lignin from the black liquor as solids or liquids. This opens enormous opportunities to position kraft lignin as a renewable aromatic polymer precursor. However, the heterogeneity of kraft lignin is one major hurdle and manifests in its largely unknown molecular structure, which in recent years has drawn further attention. In this context, we herein studied the detailed structure of Eucalyptus kraft lignin with special emphasis on identifying new linkages signatory to retro-aldol and subsequent radical coupling reactions, which we recently showed to be a key reaction sequence contributing to the structure of spruce kraft lignin. In combination with novel model studies, we unequivocally identified new structures by advanced 2D NMR characterization of Eucalyptus kraft lignin, i.e., 3,5-tetramethoxy-para-diphenol, 3-dimethoxy-para-diphenol and small amounts of 3,5-dimethoxy-benzoquinone. These structures are signatory to retro-aldol followed by radical coupling reactions. The two diphenol structures were further quantified by 1D 13C NMR at 9% of the interunit linkages in Eucalyptus kraft lignin, which was comparable to the amounts we previously identified in softwood kraft lignin (10%). Radical condensation of kraft lignin to form carbon-carbon bonds therefore does not discriminate between syringyl lignin and guaiacyl lignin units. We rationalize such indiscrimination to emanate from possibilities for radical couplings at unsubstituted C1 in the formed syringol and guaiacol lignin as a result of the retro-aldol reaction.