Molecular modelling approach to elucidate the thermal decomposition routes of vanillin

Gas phase pyrolytic studies of vanillin, which is a promising model compound of lignin-derived bio-oil, were performed using the B3LYP/6-311+g(d,p) level of theory under the DFT framework. This theoretical study unravels and elucidates the competitive reaction pathways for the production of various products and their kinetics. The reaction kinetics are presented using both gas phase and solvation models.