Structural characterization of lignin from triploid of Populus tomentosa Carr

To improve yields while minimizing the extent of mechanical action (just 2 h of planetary ball-milling), the residual wood meal obtained from extraction of milled wood lignin (MWL) was sequentially treated with cellulolytic enzyme and alkali, and the yields of MWL, cellulolytic enzyme lignin (CEL), and alkaline lignin (AL) were 5.4, 23.2, and 16.3%, respectively. The chemical structures of the lignin fractions obtained were characterized by carbohydrate analysis, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and various advanced NMR spectroscopic techniques. The results showed that the lignin isolated as MWL during the early part of ball milling may originate mainly from the middle lamella. This lignin fraction was less degradable and contained more linear hemicelluloses and more C═O in unconjugated groups as well as more phenolic OH groups. Both 1D and 2D NMR spectra analyses confirmed that the lignin in triploid of Populus tomentosa Carr. is GSH-type and partially acylated at the γ-carbon of the side chain. Two-dimensional heteronuclear single-quantum coherence (¹³C-¹H) NMR of MWL, CEL, and AL showed a predominance of β-O-4' aryl ether linkages (81.1-84.5% of total side chains), followed by β-β' resinol-type linkages (12.2-16.4%), and lower amounts of β-5' phenylcoumaran (2.1-2.6%) and β-1' spirodienone-type (0.4-1.4%) linkages. The syringyl (S)/guaiacyl (G) ratios were estimated to be 1.43, 2.29, and 2.83 for MWL, CEL, and AL, respectively.