The first examples of reductive depolymerization of lignin are reported under metal-free conditions. Using hydrosilanes as reductants and B(C 6 F 5 ) 3 as a Lewis acidic catalyst, wood lignin is efficiently converted to a narrow distribution of phenol derivatives, at room temperature. A three-step methodology based on the selection of the wood species and the lignin extraction method, followed by a convergent reductive depolymerization enables the production of four structurally defined aromatic compounds. The phenol products were successfully isolated in 7 to 24 wt% yield from lignin and 0.5 to 2.4 wt% yield from wood. The strategy is found robust and is applied to 15 different wood plants, including gymnosperm and angiosperm species. The efficiency of this novel methodology has been evaluated based on spectroscopic characterization of the lignin preparations and isolated yields of mono-aromatic products.

The disproportionation of formic acid to methanol was unveiled in 2013 using iridium catalysts. Although attractive, this transformation suffers from very low yields; methanol was produced in less than 2% yield, because the competitive dehydrogenation of formic acid (to CO2 and H2) is favored. We report herein the efficient and selective conversion of HCOOH to methanol in 50% yield, utilizing ruthenium(II) phosphine complexes under mild conditions. Experimental and theoretical (DFT) results show that different convergent pathways are involved in the production of methanol, depending on the nature of the catalyst. Reaction intermediates have been isolated and fully characterized and the reaction chemistry of the resulting ruthenium complexes has been studied.