Hydrogen-free catalytic fractionation of woody biomass

The pulping industry could become a biorefinery if the lignin and hemicellulose components of the lignocellulose are valorized. Conversion of lignin into well-defined aromatic chemicals is still a major challenge. Lignin depolymerization reactions often occur in parallel with irreversible condensation reactions of the formed fragments. Here, we describe a strategy that markedly suppresses the undesired condensation pathways and allows to selectively transform lignin into a few aromatic compounds. Notably, applying this strategy to woody biomass at organosolv pulping conditions, the hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin were separated and in parallel the lignin was transformed into aromatic monomers. In addition, we were able to utilize a part of the lignocellulose as an internal source of hydrogen for the reductive lignin transformations. We hope that the presented methodology will inspire researchers in the field of lignin valorization as well as pulp producers to develop more efficient biomass fractionation processes in the future.