On the Oxidation of Tobacco Lignin by Nitrobenzene

Abstract

The authors made a experiment on the oxidation of lignin contained in tobacco stalk and stem (N. T. var. Virginica f. Daruma) in an alkali medium with nitrobenzene. Results obtained were as follows;
(1) The results of the determination of lignin were shown in Table 1. The yield of aldehyde from 100.0g of the stalks was 4.411g. and 0.452g from 100.0g of the stems when 10% sodium hydroxide and 60cc of nitrobenzene were used at 160° for 3 hrs.
(2) Vanillin was obtained from the stalks in 0.4% yield.
(3) The oxidation of tobacco stalk and stem lignin gave a mixture of vanillin, syringaldehyde and p-hydroxybenzaldehyde. Adsorption spectra method using Beckmann spectrophotometer was used for the determination. The ratio of p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, syringaldehyde and vanillin obtained from the stalks was 1:4:4, whereas the ratio obtained from stems was 1:1:4.