Comparison between analytical pyrolysis and nitrobenzene oxidation for determination of syringyl/guaiacyl ratio in Eucalyptus spp. lignin

Abstract

Pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) was applied to measure the lignin syringyl/guaiacyl (S/G) ratio in E. dunni, E. grandis, E. nitens, E. urograndis, and E. urophylla woods. A total of 41 compounds were identified, of which 11 were derived from carbohydrates and 30 from lignins. The S/G ratio was calculated on the basis of the areas of peaks recorded in the pyrograms and compared with the results obtained by alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation. The values of S/G found by pyrolysis were similar for all the species using the compounds guaiacol, 4-methylguaiacol, 4-vinylguaiacol, vanillin, 4-ethylsyringol, 4-vinylsyringol, homosyringaldehyde, acetosyringone, and syringylacetone, as lignin markers. The selected markers were efficient for the deter-mination of S/G ratio in eucalyptus wood by Py-GC-MS. The Py-GC-MS technique produced results that are comparable to the nitrobenzene oxidation method, with the advantage of requiring small wood samples and a short analysis time.

Structural and chemical characterization of lignin and hemicellulose isolated from corn fibers toward agroindustrial residue valorization

“…As mentioned, the principle of the pyrolysis technique is the fragmentation of lignin into monomeric compounds (Lima et al 2008;Brumano et al 2020).…”