Valorizing lignin into valuable chemicals requires the selective breaking of a large number of C–O bonds found in the β–O–4 structure. In this study, we present a one-pot strategy that utilizes two NiO/TiO2 catalysts for the photocatalytic depolymerization of β–O–4 alcohols. The S-1.6%NiO/TiO2 catalyst is used for the dehydrogenation of β–O–4 alcohols at 450 nm. Then, the L-0.8%NiO/TiO2 catalyst is employed for the hydrogenolysis of β–O–4 ketones at 365 nm. Remarkably, the dehydrogenation–hydrogenolysis tandem reaction can be conducted in one pot, which affords high yields of ketones and phenols (up to 89%) from β–O–4 alcohols. Additionally, the L-0.8%NiO/TiO2 catalyst prepared in this article is the smallest NiO/TiO2 photocatalyst reported to date, and the size of NiO in the S-1.6%NiO/TiO2 catalyst is even small enough to enter the lattice of TiO2. We successfully regulated the reaction selectivity by controlling the loading method and the amount of NiO. Our work offers a promising solution for efficiently cleaving target bonds in lignin and provides insights into the design of efficient photocatalysts.
Lignin could generate active free radicals under light irradiation and be directly used as photoinitiator (PI). However, the photoinitiation unit is unclear due to its complex molecular structure. Some previous studies indicate that the photoyellowing of lignin is due to the photosensitivity of Cα‑carbonyl β-O-4 unit in its molecular structure. Herein, four lignin model compounds D2 , S3 , G4 and F4 containing Cα‑carbonyl β-O-4 structure unit were synthesized and characterized. Among them, F4 was obtained by introducing co-initiator 4-(dimethylamino) benzoic acid ethyl ester (EDAB) to the lignin structural unit. The results demonstrated that under 365 nm LED irradiation, the four model compounds all could directly initiate the polymerization of acrylate monomer PEGDA but their photoinitiation efficiency was quite different. F4 exhibited the best photoinitiation performance compared with the other three PIs. As a one-component photoinitiator (PI), the photoinitiation efficiency of F4 was equal to that of a commercial two-component system benzophenone (BP)/EDAB. In addition, when combined with a hydrogen donor triethanolamine (TEOA), the photoinitiation efficiency of the two-component system F4 /TEOA was higher than that of BP/TEOA. Furthermore, the photolysis mechanism of F4 was clarified through identifying the generated active species under light irradiation by electron spin resonance and laser flash photolysis.
Secondary benzyl alcohols (α-OH) in lignin β-O-4 linkages are reactive sites that can trigger undesirable condensation reactions during lignin valorization processes. The selective oxidation of α-OH groups can effectively inhibit lignin condensation reactions, thereby promoting lignin depolymerization. Meanwhile, this approach increases the functionalities, which is beneficial for the design of lignin-derived functional materials. In this study, we report a chemoselective oxidation method using 2-iodoxybenzoic acid (IBX) to selectively convert α-OH groups into ketones. The reaction proceeds under ambient conditions with green DMSO as the sole solvent. Oxidation of β–O–4 model compound (veratrylglycerol-β-guaiacyl ether, VG) revealed exceptional selectivity of this oxidation process, achieving 92% substrate conversion with 90% yield of the corresponding α-ketone product after 48 h. When applied to cellulolytic enzyme lignin, this protocol significantly increased the α-ketone content from 1.2% to 20.5% (relative to total interunit linkages), as identified and quantified by 2D HSQC NMR. The straightforward α-OH oxidation protocol demonstrates significant potential for precise lignin structure modification and rational design of lignin-derived functional materials in sustainable polymer systems.
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