While lignin is the most abundant aromatic biopolymer, effectively using lignin in materials has proven challenging. Approaches to degrade lignin into small molecules usually leads to a mixture of many compounds that are difficult to separate with no single compound in high yield. Partial degradation of lignin can convert solid lignin to a liquid material can be carried out, but it may be challenging to obtain reproducible distributions of oligomers. Functionalization of lignin has been carried out to introduce functional groups that can be used in curing reactions to form thermosets, however, solvents are usually used to dissolve the lignin which then have to be removed, creating waste. We have discovered a process for functionalizing lignin that involves dissolving the lignin into diluent molecules that contain hydroxyl groups and then functionalizing the mixture of lignin and diluent, resulting in a mixture of functionalized lignin and functionalized diluent. Solvent does not have to be removed in the process and the mixture can be used directly to form thermosets. Diluents such as glycerol, 1,4-butanediol and 1,3-propanediol have been explored. Functional groups explored have included methacrylate and acetoacetate and thermosets have been made by curing with these functional groups. This approach provides a novel way of utilizing lignin directly in the preparation of thermoset materials.<br/>

Green process for the direct functionalization of lignin for use in thermosets

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.