Characterization of Residual Lignins from Chemical Pulps of Spruce (Picea abies) and Beech (Fagus sylvatica) by KMnO₄ Oxidation

The enzymatic isolation of residual lignins obtained from spruce and beech pulps (obtained by sulfite, kraft, ASAM and soda/AQ/MeOH pulping processes) and their characterization was described in previous publications. Here, the residual lignins have been submitted to potassium permanganate oxidation (KMnO₄ degradation), and 9 aromatic carboxylic acids (3 of them are dimeric) were identified after methylation with diazomethane by GC/MS. The analytical challenge during qantification by the internal standard methods was the partly high protein content of the samples, which resulted in elevated anisic acid yields in the degradation mixture of sulfite residual lignins. The results are compared with the KMnO₄ degradation of the corresponding MWLs and discussed in terms of S/G ratios and degrees of condensation. The latter was calculated as a quotient between the aromatic carboxylic acids derived from condensed and non-condensed lignin structures. Typical degradation patterns for the various processes have been observed. Among other parameter, the relative compositions between iso-hemipinic acid (which is for condensation in pos. 5 of the aromatic ring) and meta-hemipinic acid and 3,4,5-trimethoxyphthalic acid (both are for condensation in pos. 6 of the aromatic ring) was found to be process specific. Kraft and soda/AQ/MeOH residual lignins yielded higher amounts of iso-hemipinic acid. In contrast, the relative yields of meta-hemipinic acid and 3,4,5-trimethoxyphthalic acid (the latter in beech lignins) are higher in sulfite and particularly in ASAM residual lignin. In case of beech residual lignins the amount of acids originated from non-condensed syringyl type lignin units was surprisingly high. The condensation degree of residual lignins was shown to be generally higher than that of MWLs. This was especially true for the G units. ASAM residual lignin exhibited very high S/G ratios and degrees of polymerization. Causality between condensation degree and total yield of degradation products was demonstrated.