Base-catalyzed oxidative depolymerization of softwood kraft lignin

Lignin is an important aromatic biopolymer with the structure based on phenolic units. Depolymerized lignin materials can be useful substitutes for phenol in phenol-formaldehyde resins. Our aim was to examine the potential of the base-catalyzed oxidation method to provide reactive oligomeric lignin fragments from softwood kraft lignin through the cleavage of the ether bonds. Three different bases, namely, NaOH, KOH, and NH4OH, were used as the catalyst in an aerobic oxidation, in which the influence of the reaction time was examined for 2 h and 6 h. Oxidized lignin materials were characterized with high-resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (13C, 1H-13C HSQC, and 31P NMR). The presence of methanol in the oxidation gas phase and formation of carboxylic acids indicate that some of the lignin structures were degraded in the oxidation. Guaiacyl units, the major phenolic structure of softwood kraft lignin, survived the oxidation. The oxidatively depolymerized lignin materials showed a reactivity close to that of pristine lignin in a reaction with formaldehyde, as determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Overall, the FT-ICR MS, NMR, and DSC results proved that the oxidized lignin materials maintained their oligomeric nature and possess the reactivity with formaldehyde.