Production of oxychemicals from precipitated hardwood lignin.

Lignin is a major byproduct in the biomass-to-ethanol process. The lignin produced from acid treatment of biomass has characteristics suitable for further conversion to organic chemicals. It is free of contaminants and has a relatively low molecular weight. In this study, catalytic oxidative conversion of the acid-soluble lignin precipitated from acid hydrolysates of hardwood was investigated. The process is based on aqueous alkaline oxidation of lignin with dissolved O2 in the presence of Fe3+ and Cu2+ catalysts at moderate reaction temperatures (160-180 degrees C). Aromatic aldehydes, ketones, and organic acids are found to be the primary products identifiable on extraction with ether. The combined weight yield of the total ether extractable products is about 20-25% of the initial lignin. The yield of the aldehydes (vanillin + syringaldehyde) is in the vicinity of 15% with an additional 3 to 4% of aromatic ketones. The yields of aldehydes plus ketones observed in this work far exceeded those obtainable from the conventional alkaline air oxidation of spent sulfite liquors. This article also provides comprehensive batch reaction data on conversion and product distribution.