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Biomass conversion

Lignin up for break-down

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Lignin is an abundant renewable resource, but its intrinsic recalcitrant nature has so far hampered its conversion into higher value chemicals. Now, a two-step strategy, oxidation followed by bond cleavage, has been shown to deconstruct lignin into high yields of low-molecular-weight aromatics.

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Figure 1: Conversion of lignin into high value aromatic molecules.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pieter C. A. Bruijnincx and Bert M. Weckhuysen are in the Faculty of Science, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3584 CG Utrecht, The Netherlands,

    Pieter C. A. Bruijnincx & Bert M. Weckhuysen

Authors
  1. Pieter C. A. Bruijnincx
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  2. Bert M. Weckhuysen
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Correspondence to Pieter C. A. Bruijnincx or Bert M. Weckhuysen.

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Bruijnincx, P., Weckhuysen, B. Lignin up for break-down. Nature Chem 6, 1035–1036 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2120

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