TY - JOUR A1 - Schmitt, Dominik A1 - Regenbrecht, Carolin A1 - Hartmer, Marius A1 - Stecker, Florian A1 - Waldvogel, Siegfried R. T1 - Highly selective generation of vanillin by anodic degradation of lignin: a combined approach of electrochemistry and product isolation by adsorption JF - Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry PY - 2015/// VL - 11 SP - 473 EP - 480 SN - 1860-5397 DO - 10.3762/bjoc.11.53 PB - Beilstein-Institut JA - Beilstein J. Org. Chem. UR - https://doi.org/10.3762/bjoc.11.53 KW - adsorption KW - electrochemistry KW - lignin KW - nickel KW - renewable resources N2 - The oxidative degradation of lignin into a variety of valuable products has been under investigation since the first half of the last century. Especially, the chance to claim this cheap, abundant and renewable source for the production of the important aroma chemical vanillin (1) was one of the major driving forces of lignin research. So far most of the developed methods fail in technical application since no viable concept for work-up is included. This work represents a combined approach of electrochemical conversion of Kraft lignin and product recovery by adsorption on a strongly basic anion exchange resin. Electrolysis conditions are optimized regarding reaction temperatures below 100 °C allowing operation of aqueous electrolytes in simple experimental set-up. Employing ion exchange resins gives rise to a selective removal of low molecular weight phenols from the strongly alkaline electrolyte without acidification and precipitation of remaining lignin. The latter represents a significant advantage compared with conventional work-up protocols of lignin solutions. ER -