Abstract
Lignophenol is a lignin-derived biopolymer with various practical applications. The structure and the characteristics of lignophenol depend on the raw lignocellulosic material because of the variety of the lignin structures. In this study, hydrothermal decomposition of ligno-p-cresol derived from Douglas fir and Birch were conducted from 300 to 400℃ to cascade lignophenol and to finally convert to aromatic raw chemicals. With increasing temperature and reaction time, softwood lignophenol gave much more acetone-insoluble char. Hardwood lignophenol was depolymerized more rapidly to ether soluble compounds, however, the yields of monophenols were almost equal. Formic acid promoted depolymerization to ether soluble compounds for both species, while did not improve the production of monophenol. Addition of Na_2CO_3 was effective for the production of monophenols to give cresol and catechol. The yields of monophenols exceeded 20% for softwood and hardwood lignophenols.
