Characterization of residual lignin after SO(2)-catalyzed steam explosion and enzymatic hydrolysis of Eucalyptus viminalis wood chips.

摘要

The lignin component found in both water insoluble (WI) and water and alkali insoluble (WIA) fractions derived from SO(2)-impregnated steam-exploded eucalyptus chips (SEE) was isolated and characterized. Dioxane lignins with a sugar content lower than 2% (w/w) were obtained after each material was treated with commercial cellulases. The C9 formulas of both SEE-WI and SEE-WIA dioxane lignins were C(9)H(6.83)N(0.04)O(2.24)(OCH(3))(1.21)(OH(aro))(0.56)(OH(ali))(0. 77) and C(9)H(8.65)N(0.29)O(1.97)(OCH(3))(0.90)(OH(aro))(0. 46)(OH(ali))(1.02), respectively. The weight-average molecular weight (M(w)) of the SEE-WI lignin corresponded to 3.85 kDa, whereas the SEE-WIA lignin had an M(w) of 3.66 kDa for the same polydispersity of 2.4. The SEE-WIA lignin was shown to be more thermally stable than the SEE-WI lignin, requiring temperatures in the range of 520 degrees C for complete degradation. FTIR and (1)H NMR analyses of both untreated and peracetylated lignin fractions showed that (a) the alkali insoluble lignin contained a relatively higher degree of substitution in aromatic rings per C9 unit and that (b) alkaline extraction removed lignin fragments containing appreciable amounts of phenolic hydroxyl groups.