Assessment of Fungal Wood Decay by Lignin Analysis Using Tetramethylammonium Hydroxide (TMAH) and 13C-Labeled TMAH Thermochemolysis

Thermochemolysis using tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) and 13 C-labeled TMAH is an analytical tool recently applied to the study of white- and brown-rot decay of wood. It has several advantages over more conventional molecular pyrolytic and chemolytic techniques in that lignin side-chain oxidation and demethylation can be assessed simultaneously, while using only tens of micrograms of material. In samples analyzed thus far clear distinction in the lignin decay patterns between white- and brown-rotted wood residue has provided insightful clues into the mechanism of fungal decay at the earliest stages of fungal activity. This chapter reviews the application of this technique to lignin decay experiments from recent literature.