Structural characterization of the lignin from jute (Corchorus capsularis) fibers

The structural characteristics of the lignin from jute (Corchorus capsularis) fibers, which are used for high-quality paper pulp production, were studied. The lignin content (13.3% Klason lignin) was high compared to other nonwoody bast fibers used for pulp production. The lignin structure was characterized by pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS), 2D-NMR, and thioacidolysis. Upon Py-GC/MS, jute fibers released predominantly products from syringylpropanoid units with the S/G ratio being 2.1 and a H/G/S composition of 2:33:65. 2D-NMR of the milled wood lignin (MWL) isolated from jute fibers showed a predominance of β-O-4 aryl ether linkages (72% of total side chains), followed by β-β resinol-type linkages (16% of total side chains) and lower amounts of β-5 phenylcoumaran (4%) and β-1 spirodienone-type (4%) linkages and cinnamyl end groups (4%). The high predominance of the S-lignin units, together with the high proportion of β-O-4 aryl ether linkages, which are easily cleaved during alkaline cooking, are advantageous for pulping. On the other hand, a small percentage (ca. 4%) of the lignin side chain was found to be acetylated at the γ-carbon, predominantly over syringyl units. The analysis of desulphurated thioacidolysis dimers provided additional information on the relative abundances of the various carbon-carbon and diaryl ether bonds and the type of units (syringyl or guaiacyl) involved in each of the above linkage types. Interestingly, the major part of the β-β dimers included two syringyl units, indicating that most of the β-β substructures identified in the HSQC spectra were of the syringaresinol type (pinoresinol being absent), as already observed in the lignin of other angiosperms.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Río Andrade, José Carlos del, Rencoret, Jorge, Marques, Gisela, Li, Jiebing, Gellerstedt, Göran, Jiménez-Barbero, Jesús, Martínez, Ángel T., Gutiérrez Suárez, Ana
Other Authors:	Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (España)
Format:	artículo biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	American Chemical Society 2009-09-10
Subjects:	Jute, Corchorus capsularis, Nonwood fibers, Pyrolysis-GC/MS, HSQC, Thioacidolysis, Milled wood lignin, Syringyl, Guaiacyl, Syringaresinol,
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10261/85742 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003339 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000780
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