Towards new bio-based aromatic products through conceptually novel lignocellulose biorefinery

Future chemicals production faces fading of fossil oil due to its depletion and unsustainable character. New ways to get access to carbon to build a new chemistry should rely on renewable carbon. Among others, the utilization of biomass such as lignocellulose can serve this role provided that fractionation of the feedstock will become feasible. Biorefinery research is therefore essential to overcome hurdles of the current technology. While carbohydrate (pulp) isolation has been the major point of interest in the established biorefineries, lignin separation seems more challenging especially if it should come in a form that can easily be upgraded to a feedstock to fuel the bio-based aromatic chemicals. This thesis will focus the role of catalysis for such fractionation and want to uncover the deeper insight in the depolymerisation pathway as to find the fundament to control the product selectivity. Catalytic understanding of selective bond C-O breaking with initial formation of unsaturated lignin fragments is the main objective. Definition of the molecular identity of the lignin derived product stream with advanced analytical tools such as 2D NMR and 2D Chromatography will be the core of the research, and will enable the clarification of the catalytic reaction network, and interpretation of the catalytic requirements for the individual reaction steps in the network. Finally, we belief that the unique composition of the lignin derived products can initiate new chemistry to achieve novel and sustainable end products, of use in our daily life.