Issue 7, 2024

The chemical logic of enzymatic lignin degradation

Abstract

Lignin is an aromatic heteropolymer, found in plant cell walls as 20–30% of lignocellulose. It represents the most abundant source of renewable aromatic carbon in the biosphere, hence, if it could be depolymerised efficiently, then it would be a highly valuable source of renewable aromatic chemicals. However, lignin presents a number of difficulties for biocatalytic or chemocatalytic breakdown. Research over the last 10 years has led to the identification of new bacterial enzymes for lignin degradation, and the use of metabolic engineering to generate useful bioproducts from microbial lignin degradation. The aim of this article is to discuss the chemical mechanisms used by lignin-degrading enzymes and microbes to break down lignin, and to describe current methods for generating aromatic bioproducts from lignin using enzymes and engineered microbes.

Graphical abstract: The chemical logic of enzymatic lignin degradation

Article information

Article type
Feature Article
Submitted
27 Oct 2023
Accepted
19 Dec 2023
First published
20 Dec 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Commun., 2024,60, 804-814

The chemical logic of enzymatic lignin degradation

T. D. H. Bugg, Chem. Commun., 2024, 60, 804 DOI: 10.1039/D3CC05298B

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