Lignocellulosic biomass is a substrate with great potential as a renewable replacement for fossil-based building blocks in polymer and material synthesis. In recent years, there has been tremendous growth in the production of research papers related to these efforts. Furthermore, the strategic targets set by several nations to be bio-based economies, and motivated to some […]

Lignocellulosic biomass is a substrate with great potential as a renewable replacement for fossil-based building blocks in polymer and material synthesis. In recent years, there has been tremendous growth in the production of research papers related to these efforts. Furthermore, the strategic targets set by several nations to be bio-based economies, and motivated to some extent by the climate mitigation goals set by the UN, lend credit to the urgency of the implementation phase.

In this virtual special issue (VSI) of ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, multidisciplinary research related to lignin is reported and includes the areas of lignin biosynthesis and polymerization, lignin characterization, lignin refining/biorefining to obtain building blocks for polymers, and polymer and material systems based on lignin. Highlights of the research papers are presented below.

Read more in the issue’s editorial.

Featured Articles:

Deciphering the Unique Structure and Acylation Pattern of Posidonia oceanica Lignin
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 33, 12521–12533
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c03502
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Enrichment and Identification of Lignin–Carbohydrate Complexes in Softwood Extract
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 31, 11795–11804
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c03988
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New Structures in Eucalyptus Kraft Lignin with Complex Mechanistic Implications
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 29, 10983–10994
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c03776
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Coupling and Reactions of Lignols and New Lignin Monomers: A Density Functional Theory Study
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 30, 11033–11045
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c02880
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Fluorescence Labeling of Technical Lignin for the Study of Phenolic Group Distribution as a Function of the Molecular Weight
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 22, 8279–8287
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c01571
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Mesoporous Carbon Microfibers for Electroactive Materials Derived from Lignocellulose Nanofibrils
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 23, 8549–8561
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c00764
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Lignin Monomers from beyond the Canonical Monolignol Biosynthetic Pathway: Another Brick in the Wall
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 13, 4997–5012
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c01109
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Determining the Genetic Regulation and Coordination of Lignification in Stem Tissues of Arabidopsis Using Semiquantitative Raman Microspectroscopy
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 12, 4900–4909
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c00194
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Agglomeration of Viruses by Cationic Lignin Particles for Facilitated Water Purification
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 10, 4167–4177
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b06915
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Lignin-First Integrated Hydrothermal Treatment (HTT) and Synthesis of Low-Cost Biorefinery Particles
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 2, 1230–1239
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b06511
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Aromatics from Lignocellulosic Biomass: A Platform for High-Performance Thermosets
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 40, 15072–15096
DOI:10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c04817
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Direct Quantification of Lignin in Liquors by High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography-Densitometry and Multivariate Calibration
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 45, 16766–16774
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c03950
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High Value Use of Technical Lignin. Fractionated Lignin Enables Facile Synthesis of Microcapsules with Various Shapes: Hemisphere, Bowl, Mini-tablets, or Spheres with Single Holes
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 35, 13282–13291
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c03521
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Aldehyde-Assisted Fractionation Enhances Lignin Valorization in Endocarp Waste Biomass
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 45, 16737–16745
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c03360
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Production of p-Coumaric Acid from Corn GVL-Lignin
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 47, 17427–17438
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c05651
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Effect of Sulfonation Level on Lignin/Carbon Composite Electrodes for Large-Scale Organic Batteries
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 49, 17933–17944
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c05397
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Exploring the Effects of Different Cross-Linkers on Lignin-Based Thermoset Properties and Morphologies
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2021, 9, 4, 1692–1702
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c07580
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Materials Based on Technical Bulk Lignin
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2021, 9, 4, 1477–1493
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c08882
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Coupling of Flavonoid Initiation Sites with Monolignols Studied by Density Functional Theory
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2021, 9, 4, 1518–1528
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c04240
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Degradation Behavior of Biobased Epoxy Resins in Mild Acidic Media
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2021, 9, 1, 438–447
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c07621
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New Mechanistic Insights into the Lignin β-O-4 Linkage Acidolysis with Ethylene Glycol Stabilization Aided by Multilevel Computational Chemistry
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2021, 9, 5, 2388–2399
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c08901
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An Electrocatalytic Strategy for C–C Bond Cleavage in Lignin Model Compounds and Lignin under Ambient Conditions
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2021, 9, 4, 1932–1940
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c08612
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Fractionation and Characterization of Glycol Lignins by Stepwise-pH Precipitation of Japanese Cedar/Poly(ethylene glycol) Solvolysis Liquor
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2021, 9, 2, 756–764
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c06892
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Refining the Properties of Softwood Kraft Lignin with Acetone: Effect of Solvent Fractionation on the Thermomechanical Behavior of Electrospun Fibers
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2021, 9, 1, 458–470
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c07634
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New Insight into the Surface Structure of Lignin Nanoparticles Revealed by 1H Liquid-State NMR Spectroscopy
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 36, 13805–13812
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c05119
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Biobased Resins Using Lignin and Glyoxal
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 51, 18789–18809
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c07227
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Biobased Resins Using Lignin and Glyoxal
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 51, 18789–18809
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c07227
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Perspective on Technical Lignin Fractionation
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 22, 8086–8101
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c01348

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