AUTHOR=Sarieddine Aya , Hadjiefstathiou Caroline , Majira Amel , Pion Florian , Ducrot Paul-Henri TITLE=Biocatalytic selective acylation of technical lignins: a new route for the design of new biobased additives for industrial formulations JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry VOLUME=11 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2023.1239479 DOI=10.3389/fchem.2023.1239479 ISSN=2296-2646 ABSTRACT=

In this article, we describe a proof of concept of the potential use of a biocatalytic process for the functionalization of technical soda lignins from wheat straw through the selective acylation of primary hydroxy groups of lignin oligomers by acetate or hexanoate, thus preserving their free, unreacted phenols. The selectivity and efficiency of the method, although they depend on the structural complexity of the starting material, have been proven on model compounds. Applied to technical lignins, the acylation yield is only moderate, due to structural and chemical features induced by the industrial mode of preparation of the lignins rather than to the lack of efficiency of the method. However, most of the physicochemical properties of the lignins, including their antioxidant potential, are preserved, advocating the potential use of these modified lignins for industrial applications.