Synthesis and catalytic valorisation of advanced biomass model compounds

Lignin is the second most abundant polymer on earth after cellulose and comprises the greatest amount of aromatic functionalities in nature. The overall structure of lignin is so vast and largely unknown that small compounds which are fashioned on some of the bonding patterns within lignin are employed to study how these bonding patterns would react under a given set of conditions.

The over-arching theme within is the use of model compounds which have been synthesised with a view to having the linkages present within native lignin. Lignin model compounds which have been synthesised include the key linkages which can be classified as ether or C-C bonds and have been characterised by NMR, MS, LC-MS and HPLC. Following implementation of synthetic routes towards these target compounds, enzymatic and photocatalytic systems were employed to study routes of degradation and determine if there is any resistance of bonds present within.