Article
Agricultural Engineering
Qin Chen, Chang Peng, Wujun Liu, Siyang Ning, Gang Hu, Zongbao K. Zhao, Haibo Xie
Summary: This study utilized a hypervalent iodine reagent to achieve the oxidative coupling of Kraft lignin, resulting in improved properties and enhanced adsorptive features. Adsorption kinetics, isotherms, and structural changes were investigated, showing promising results for valorizing lignin-based materials.
INDUSTRIAL CROPS AND PRODUCTS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Tian Gao, Shengnan Guo, Jiaojiao Zhang, Jintao Chen, Shiru Yin, Na Peng, Qun Cai, Huan Xu, Yi Liu
Summary: The synthesis of low-cost and high-efficiency multicolour emitting graphene quantum dots (GQDs) from lignin has been successfully achieved in this study. The high crystallization and single-layered structure of the synthesized GQDs were confirmed using HRTEM. By analyzing XPS and FT-IR spectra, the formation mechanism of GQDs derived from lignin at the molecular level was investigated. Furthermore, the application of multicolour-emitting GQDs derived from lignin in LEDs was demonstrated, offering a new path for converting sustainable biomass into high-value nanomaterials.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Mengjie Hu, Yuchen Liang, Liying Ru, Sheng Ye, Lei Zhang, Xin Huang, Ming Bao, Lichun Kong, Bo Peng
Summary: Due to its unique physical properties, fluorine is frequently used to explore new reaction pathways. This report establishes a cooperative relationship between [5,5]-rearrangement and fluorine-assisted temporary dearomatization for the multi-functionalization of arenes. The use of fluorine not only avoids the [3,3]-rearrangement and hindrances of undesired rearomatization but also provides a valuable space for constructing and elaborating the temporarily dearomatized fluorinated sulfonium species.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Cedric Cabral Almada, Aleksandr Kazachenko, Pascal Fongarland, Denilson Da Silva Perez, Boris N. Kuznetsov, Laurent Djakovitch
Summary: This study fully characterized lignin samples of varying botanical nature and extraction procedures, and successfully depolymerized lignin in the absence of catalysts. High amounts of aromatic compounds were recovered after optimizing the reaction conditions. The study also demonstrated the importance of lignin's structure and the extraction process in optimizing aromatic compound yields.
BIOMASS CONVERSION AND BIOREFINERY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Antonella Ilenia Alfano, Sveva Pelliccia, Giacomo Rossino, Orazio Chianese, Vincenzo Summa, Simona Collina, Margherita Brindisi
Summary: In recent years, photochemistry has become increasingly important in academia and the pharmaceutical industry. Continuous-flow chemistry has helped overcome the issues of long photolysis times and light penetration reduction, making photochemical rearrangements more controlled and efficient. This article highlights the benefits of flow chemistry in photochemical rearrangements and showcases recent advances in the synthesis of pharmaceutically relevant substructures using photo-rearrangements in continuous flow.
ACS MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Paper & Wood
Yali Liu, Sufeng Zhang, Lei Li, Sergiu Coseri
Summary: A few-chemical, low-energy process for the direct extraction of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) from unbleached kraft pulp (UBKP) by potassium permanganate oxidation is proposed in this work. The residual lignin and hemicellulose in the pulp are converted into active components during the oxidation process, promoting defibrillation. The activated residual lignin significantly improves the UBCNF properties, especially the tensile strength of the UBCNF films. Moreover, the UBCNFs show great potential as an eco-friendly paper strengthening agent with remarkable enhancement in various properties.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Florian Walch, Omar Y. Abdelaziz, Sebastian Meier, Sasa Bjelic, Christian P. Hulteberg, Anders Riisager
Summary: Lignin, as the most abundant biopolymer in the world, has the potential to replace petroleum for the production of chemicals, fuels, and materials through catalysis. The study showed that the V-Cu catalyst system was the most effective for the oxidative depolymerization of technical lignin, resulting in a significant increase in bio-oil yield and aromatic monomers.
CATALYSIS SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Organic
San L. Pham, Taehee Kim, Frank E. McDonald
Summary: CuI and trans-N,N'-dimethylcyclohexyldiamine catalyze the single-step C-O bond cross-coupling between 1,2-di- and trisubstituted vinylic halides with functionalized alcohols, producing acyclic vinylic ethers. This method selectively gives (E)- and (Z)-vinylic ether products from the corresponding vinyl halide precursors, and is compatible with carbohydrate-derived primary and secondary alcohols and other functional groups. The conditions are mild and do not promote Claisen rearrangements.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Oihana Gordobil, Huisi Li, Ana Ayerdi Izquierdo, Ainhoa Egizabal, Olena Sevastyanova, Anna Sandak
Summary: By converting lignin into colloidal particles at the nanoscale, it is possible to develop a wide range of high-performance biomaterials. Colloidal lignin particles synthesized from hardwood kraft lignins showed higher antioxidant power and cytotoxicity against lung fibroblast cells compared to softwood kraft lignin-derived CLPs. The dose-dependent cytotoxicity of these biomaterials suggests their potential applications in cosmetic and pharmaceutical products at low concentrations.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Dolores Bourbiaux, Yu Xu, Laurence Burel, Firat Goc, Pascal Fongarland, Regis Philippe, Guillaume Aubert, Cyril Aymonier, Franck Rataboul, Laurent Djakovitch
Summary: Lignin is a major component of lignocellulosic biomass and can be depolymerized under mild oxidizing conditions with the Pd catalyst to produce oxygenated aromatic compounds. The richness of functional groups in lignin makes it an attractive precursor for a wide variety of aromatic compounds. Differences in selectivity in aromatic monomers may arise depending on the catalyst nature and synthetic methods used.
Article
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Timothy A. Ablott, Rhian Webby, Daniel R. Jenkinson, Alexandra Nikolich, Lujia Liu, Harina Amer Hamzah, Mary F. Mahon, Andrew D. Burrows, Christopher Richardson
Summary: Here, we report coupling in situ high temperature postsynthetic modifications (PSMs) in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Thermo-reactive propargyloxy-functionalized zinc IRMOFs were investigated for their high-temperature postsynthetic rearrangement (PSR) chemistry to heterocyclic chromenes and benzofurans and then coupled to solid-gas reactions with molecular oxygen. The selectivity for the initial molecular rearrangements was found to be inverted in the porous MOF environment compared to conventional melt reactions, showing the potential of MOFs to give rise to different chemistry. This work contributes to establishing the feasibility of high-temperature solid-gas manifolds for MOF PSM.
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Qingzhi Ma, Kolby Hirth, Umesh P. Agarwal, J. Y. Zhu
Summary: This study compared the oxidative delignification of birch kraft pulp fibers to pulp fibers from acid hydrotropic fractionation (AHF) using p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TsOH). The results showed that AHF pulp fibers had higher delignification than kraft pulp fibers, despite having less reactive lignin. Additionally, the study found that higher fiber consistency resulted in better delignification.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Xiaobing Cao, Fei Li, Siyu Chen, Xiaotao Bi, Yanjun Li, Xin Li
Summary: Waste lignin can be a valuable resource for energy and chemical production, but its thermochemical conversion is hindered by low overall yield and low production of final products. This study investigated the effects of oxidative torrefaction on lignin, and found that it increased the energy content of lignin and facilitated the conversion of lignin into energy and high-value chemicals.
JOURNAL OF ANALYTICAL AND APPLIED PYROLYSIS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ali Akbar Amooey
Summary: This study conducted an exergoeconomic analysis on the process of oxidative lignin depolymerization, aiming to reduce waste production and increase energy efficiency. The results showed that the cooler and one of the separators had the highest and lowest destruction of exergy cost rate, respectively, and the heater with cooler and mixer with separation had the highest efficiencies of exergy.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mengjie Hu, Yanping Liu, Yuchen Liang, Taotao Dong, Lichun Kong, Ming Bao, Zhi-Xiang Wang, Bo Peng
Summary: In this study, the authors demonstrated a dearomatization method driven by [5,5]-rearrangement, which enabled the conversion of aryl sulfoxides into di- and trifunctionalized compounds. Mechanistic studies revealed the selectivity and generation of intermediates in the reactions.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Biophysics
Zhaleh Pourmoazzen, Hasan Sadeghifar, Guihua Yang, Lucian Lucia
COLLOIDS AND SURFACES B-BIOINTERFACES
(2020)
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Zhaleh Pourmoazzen, Hasan Sadeghifar, Jiachuan Chen, Guihua Yang, Kai Zhang, Lucian Lucia
CARBOHYDRATE POLYMERS
(2020)
Review
Polymer Science
Hasan Sadeghifar, Arthur Ragauskas
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Hasan Sadeghifar, Arthur Ragauskas
ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING
(2020)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Dimitris S. Argyropoulos, Nicolo Pajer, Claudia Crestini
Summary: The development of sustainable biorefinery products faces challenges in lignin and tannin valorization due to their complexity and variability, requiring a protocol for rapid and unequivocal identification and quantification of functional groups in polyphenols for further utilization. Quantitative P-31 NMR provides an efficient method for identifying different functional groups in lignins and tannins with high application potential, offering clear signals highly dependent on the surrounding chemical environment.
JOVE-JOURNAL OF VISUALIZED EXPERIMENTS
(2021)
Review
Chemistry, Applied
Roman Sarder, Emily Piner, David Cruz Rios, Lisandra Chacon, Mirela Angelita Artner, Nelson Barrios, Dimitris Argyropoulos
Summary: The versatility of starch has inspired the development of high-performance biomaterials for biomedical applications such as drug delivery and tissue engineering. Starch-based materials can be customized for specific applications through grafting or other chemistries, with starch serving as the template. Considerable research has been conducted on tailored starch-based grafted polymers, taking advantage of their biocompatibility and biodegradability. This review critically explores the latest research on grafting chemistries on starch for biomedical applications, including greener synthetic approaches, the use of enzymes and alternative solvent systems.
CARBOHYDRATE POLYMERS
(2022)
Review
Materials Science, Paper & Wood
J. Gavin Gaynor, Dorota B. Szlek, Soojin Kwon, Phoenix S. Tiller, Matthew S. Byington, Dimitris S. Argyropoulos
Summary: Lignin has unique applications in nonwovens, including processing, fiber production, composites with polymers, dye dispersants, and fire-retardant applications. Traditional nonwoven processing techniques, such as electrospinning, have been successful in producing lignin-based nonwovens.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Hasan Sadeghifar, Arthur Ragauskas
Summary: Lignin, a by-product of pulping and bio-refinery with phenolic chemical structure, has potential as a natural antioxidant, UV blocker, antibacterial and toxic material absorbent. Its antioxidant activity is mainly determined by the presence of phenolic hydroxyl groups, and other structural features and functional groups also affect its antioxidant power. Lignin can improve the thermal stability of synthetic polymers when mixed with them. It has high UV light absorbing potential in broad-spectrum and can provide excellent sun protection when added to hand cream. Lignin also shows strong UV light protection in different transparent films and can protect paint, oil, and varnish from UV degradation. Modified lignin, such as lignosulfonate and lignin hydrogel, have potential as heavy metal absorbers.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ajinkya More, Thomas Elder, Nicolo Pajer, Dimitris S. Argyropoulos, Zhihua Jiang
Summary: The valorization of lignin into value-added products through oxidative conversion is a popular research strategy, but its integration into industrial processes is often limited. This study aims to maximize lignin utilization to produce diverse value-added products, with a specific focus on integration in the existing pulp and paper industry. Sequential oxidation using oxygen and ozone improved the carboxyl content of kraft lignin and allowed the formation of vanillin and vanillic acid. The resulting oxidized lignin was then cured with PEG-epoxy to form high-lignin-content vitrimers with excellent thermal stability and self-healing properties. This study presents a novel approach for lignin valorization and demonstrates its integration in the pulp and paper industry.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Dimitris D. S. Argyropoulos, Claudia Crestini, Christian Dahlstrand, Erik Furusjo, Claudio Gioia, Kerstin Jedvert, Gunnar Henriksson, Christian Hulteberg, Martin Lawoko, Clara Pierrou, Joseph S. M. Samec, Elena Subbotina, Henrik Wallmo, Martin Wimby
Summary: Kraft lignin, a by-product of pulp production, can be separated from black liquor to reduce the load on recovery boilers and increase pulp production, while also generating valuable bioenergy. In recent years, there has been growing interest in developing and utilizing this underutilized resource. This review provides an overview of Kraft lignin, its applications, and evaluates its value chains from black liquor to different products. It is anticipated that this work will inspire further development and use of Kraft lignin for new applications, promoting global sustainability concerns.
Review
Materials Science, Paper & Wood
Marcel Kropat, Mochen Liao, Hyeonji Park, Khandoker S. Salem, Shelly Johnson, Dimitris S. Argyropoulos
Summary: The research found that despite the abundance of technologies for lignin-based materials, the actual penetration rate of lignin-based bioplastics in the market is low, highlighting a significant gap between lignin research and development and the actual market.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Sachin Agate, Dimitris S. Argyropoulos, Hasan Jameel, Lucian Lucia, Lokendra Pal
ACS APPLIED BIO MATERIALS
(2020)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Sajedeh Seyednejhad, Mohammad A. Khalilzadeh, Hasan Sadeghifar, Daryoush Zareyee
EURASIAN CHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS
(2020)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
William J. Sagues, Ankush Jain, Dylan Brown, Salonika Aggarwal, Antonio Suarez, Matthew Kollman, Seonghyun Park, Dimitris S. Argyropoulos
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
David Ramirez Alvarado, Dimitris S. Argyropoulos, Frank Scholle, Bharadwaja S. T. Peddinti, Reza A. Ghiladi