Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 10, 2026

Extraction of Lignin with High β-O-4 Content by Mild Ethanol Extraction and Its Effect on the Depolymerization Yield
Published on: January 7, 2019
Directional synthesis of ethylbenzene through catalytic transformation of lignin
Minghui Fan1, Peiwen Jiang, Peiyan Bi
1Department of Chemical Physics, Anhui Key Laboratory of Biomass Clean Energy, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei 230026, PR China.
Abstract:
Transformation of lignin to ethylbenzene can provide an important bulk raw material for the petrochemical industry. This work explored the production of ethylbenzene from lignin through the directional catalytic depolymerization of lignin into the aromatic monomers followed by the selective alkylation of the aromatic monomers. For the first step, the aromatics selectivity of benzene derived from the catalytic depolymerization of lignin reached about 90.2 C-mol% over the composite catalyst of Re-Y/HZSM-5 (25). For the alkylation of the aromatic monomers in the second step, the highest selectivity of ethylbenzene was about 72.3 C-mol% over the HZSM-5 (25) catalyst. The reaction pathway for the transformation of lignin to ethylbenzene was also addressed. Present transformation potentially provides a useful approach for the production of the basic petrochemical material and development of high-end chemicals utilizing lignin as the abundant natural aromatic resource.
More Related Videos
05:34Efficient Synthesis of Polyfunctionalized Benzenes in Water via Persulfate-promoted Benzannulation of α,β-Unsaturated Compounds and Alkynes
Published on: December 16, 2019
10:40Visualizing Lignification Dynamics in Plants with Click Chemistry: Dual Labeling is BLISS!
Published on: January 26, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Benzene to 1,4-Cyclohexadiene: Birch Reduction Mechanism
Reduction of Benzene to Cyclohexane: Catalytic Hydrogenation
Benzene to Phenol via Cumene: Hock Process
Reduction of Alkynes to cis-Alkenes: Catalytic Hydrogenation
Like alkenes, alkynes can be reduced to alkanes in the presence of transition metal catalysts such as Pt, Pd, or Ni. The reaction involves two sequential syn additions of hydrogen via a cis-alkene intermediate.
Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution: Friedel–Crafts Alkylation of Benzene
Directing and Steric Effects in Disubstituted Benzene Derivatives