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Pyrolysis‐gas chromatography/Mass spectrometry analysis of phenolic and etherified units in natural and industrial lignins
Author(s) -
Camarero Susana,
Bocchini Paola,
Galletti Guido C.,
Martínez Angel T.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
rapid communications in mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.528
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1097-0231
pISSN - 0951-4198
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0231(19990415)13:7<630::aid-rcm535>3.0.co;2-5
Subject(s) - lignin , chemistry , hardwood , hemicellulose , pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry , kraft paper , eucalyptus globulus , gas chromatography , organic chemistry , softwood , mass spectrometry , pyrolysis , chromatography , botany , pulp and paper industry , eucalyptus , engineering , biology
Milled‐wood lignin (MWL) from Carpinus betulus, Eucryphia cordifolia, Picea abies, Pinus sp. and Bambusa sp., Kraft lignin from Fagus sylvatica and Eucalyptus globulus , and alkali lignin and hemicellulose‐linked lignin from Triticum aestivum , were investigated with respect to their composition in phenolic and etherified phenylpropanoid H ( p ‐hydroxyphenyl), G (guaiacyl) and S (syringyl) units. For this purpose, a methodology based on lignin permethylation, followed by pyrolysis‐gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, and quantitation of marker compounds (H‐, G‐ and S‐type vinylphenols and their methylated derivatives) in single‐ion chromatograms, was developed. The phenolic content in the samples analyzed ranged from 2% of total units in hemicellulose‐linked lignin to near 70% in Kraft lignins. Softwood MWL showed higher amounts of phenolic units than MWL from annual plants and hardwoods. It was found that the phenolic content of MWL from the Austral tree species E. cordifolia was unexpectedly high for a hardwood lignin. The significance of this finding in terms of lignin degradability by white‐rot fungi, of biotechnological interest, is discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.