Oxidation of Hardwood Kraft-Lignin to Phenolic Derivatives. Nitrobenzene and Copper Oxide as Oxidants

Abstract A hardwood kraft lignin (obtained by precipitating an industrial black liquor with a solution of calcium salt in alcohol) was oxidized in alkaline medium to obtain phenolic compounds (syringaldehyde, vanillin, syringic acid and vanillic acid). Nitrobenzene and copper (II) oxide were the oxidants employed. Influence of temperature, reaction time and oxidant concentration on yield and product distribution were studied. The results show that nitrobenzene is a more effective oxidant (15–18 % of aldehydes on kraft lignin) than copper (II) oxide (7–8 %). Product distribution showed the highest aldehyde selectivity for nitrobenzene, due to the presence of two additional oxidation products in the copper oxide oxidations. In the oxidation to aldehydes, the alcohol-calcium precipitated kraft lignin is a better raw material than other precipitated kraft lignin.