Investigation of supported Ru heterogeneous catalyst for the hydrodeoxygenation of lignin model molecules

The development of advanced heterogeneous catalysts has significantly enhanced the reductive catalytic fractionation (RCF) of lignocellulosic biomass, enabling high yields of lignin-derived phenolic monomers while simultaneously obtaining cellulose-rich pulps with minimal residual lignin. Nonetheless, achieving precise selectivity for target platform chemicals remains a challenge due to the complex and heterogeneous nature of the biomass feedstock. Lignin’s diverse array of functional groups and bonding patterns contributes to a broad and often unpredictable product distribution. To overcome these limitations and improve the process outcome, further reprocessing plays a pivotal role. Given the complexity of the RCF derived lignin oil, use of model molecules, a useful tool to simplify and investigate complex systems, can give insight into the reaction mechanism facilitating the development of innovative catalytic systems. This strategy offers a controlled framework to study reaction pathways and catalyst-substrate interactions, thereby guiding process refinement. In this scenario, catalyzed hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) reactions are a useful tool in removing various oxygen-containing functional groups, channeling the reaction products into fewer and less oxygenated species. This study builds on the downstream refinement of the lignin oil through HDO reactions. The objective is to optimize the HDO process by using different catalysts. These evaluations yield valuable insights into both the mechanistic aspects and the process efficiency.