Issue 8, 2024

Sustainable production of catechol derivatives from waste tung nutshell C/G-type lignin via heterogeneous Cu–NC catalytic oxidation

Abstract

The sustainable production of catechol derivatives is a challenging task. Catechyl (C) and guaiacyl (G) lignins coexisting in waste tung nutshells are promising feedstocks to form valuable catechol derivatives, but the depolymerization of C/G lignin typically involves a catalytic reductive process that cannot produce these oxidized aromatic chemicals. Herein, we demonstrated that the sustainable production of catechol derivative aldehydes and acids from C/G lignin could be achieved through a heterogeneous copper-catalyzed oxidative process. Under optimized conditions, the Cu–NC-800 catalyst affords a 43.5 mg g−1 yield (8.9 wt%, based on Klason lignin) of aromatic aldehydes (protocatechuic aldehyde, vanillin) and acids (protocatechuic acid, vanillic acid). XRD and XPS analyses showed that CuO and Cu2O may be the active species during the heterogeneous oxidation of the Cu–NC-800 catalyst. This study opens new opportunities for the sustainable production of catechol derivatives from C/G-type lignin.

Graphical abstract: Sustainable production of catechol derivatives from waste tung nutshell C/G-type lignin via heterogeneous Cu–NC catalytic oxidation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 Nov 2023
Accepted
22 Jan 2024
First published
08 Feb 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2024,14, 5069-5076

Sustainable production of catechol derivatives from waste tung nutshell C/G-type lignin via heterogeneous Cu–NC catalytic oxidation

G. Zhu, H. Xie, D. Ye, J. Zhang, K. Huang, B. Liao and J. Chen, RSC Adv., 2024, 14, 5069 DOI: 10.1039/D3RA08052H

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