Kraft Lignin Depolymerization Under Hydrothermal Conditions

Kraft lignin depolymerization was conducted in water and mixture of water and alcohols with different ratios.  The highest lignin conversion yields obtained was 82%. Direct quantitative analysis of the depolymerized products by HPLC was completed without organic solvent extraction.  The yields for six standard compounds were obtained from the HPLC analyses. The paper also compared the yields of lignin depolymerization from hydrothermal processing and pyrolysis.