title: Unravelling Some of the Key Transformations in the Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Lignin.
abstract: Using both experimental and computational methods, focusing on intermediates and model compounds, some of the main features of the reaction mechanisms that operate during the hydrothermal processing of lignin were elucidated. Key reaction pathways and their connection to different structural features of lignin were proposed. Under neutral conditions, subcritical water was demonstrated to act as a bifunctional acid/base catalyst for the dissection of lignin structures. In a complex web of mutually dependent interactions, guaiacyl units within lignin were shown to significantly affect overall lignin reactivity.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Advanced Catalysis for Sustainability, School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, Sydney, 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Matthew Y
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2201-3956
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Lui
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Engineering, Nagasaki University, Bunkyo 1-14, Nagasaki, 852-8521, Japan.
authors.forename: Bun
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0082-5497
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Advanced Catalysis for Sustainability, School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, Sydney, 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Alexander K L
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6908-8851
authors.initials: AKL
authors.lastname: Yuen
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Advanced Catalysis for Sustainability, School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, Sydney, 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Anthony F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Masters
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Montoya
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Advanced Catalysis for Sustainability, School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, Sydney, 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8494-9907
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maschmeyer
mesh_terms: D002384:Catalysis; D008031:Lignin / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D008031:Lignin
keywords: biomass; density functional theory; hydrothermal liquefaction; lignin; mechanism