Lignocellulosic is a promising biomass source that has been studied for the last decade and the demand for valuable products from lignin valorization is recently increasing, hence there is a need to design faster routes for C-O and C-C bond cleavage in lignin polymer, which will show improved yield to meet industrial needs. However, C-C linkages are the most resistant in the molecule, so even though the disassembly process chosen to break the linkages could not be enough to break them. Moreover, most of the research approaches on lignin depolymerization under multiple methods and catalysis applied have mostly produced phenols, but the production of valuable ketones and aromatic acids requires multiple steps and downstream processes that increases the complexity of the synthesis. Previously it was able to coordinated three manganese species [Mn(II), Mn(0) and Mn(III)] with Ethylammonium formate (EAF) to achieve a catalyst framework which completed fast dehydrogenation breaking C-C and C-O bonds presented on the structure 1,4 dimethoxybenzene. In this work the main purpose is to use these three new catalytic coordinates into an optimization process where the effect of time and temperature under the catalyst synthesis and performance is going to be evaluated to understand reaction kinetics and pick the best conditions for this method. The study of the catalyst on Kraft lignin depolymerization is the key to analyze the activity of these three catalysts and results in bond breakage and targeted valuable products such as Ketones and aromatics using characterization techniques such as GC-MS. Finally, with the purpose of applying this project to real life, it is looking for a scaling up process that will apply engineering considerations such as reactor design, heat transfer and mixing for a future commercialization of the catalyst. And adding a LCA analysis to reduce pollution impact on catalyst synthesis.
