Preparation of liquid fuel from lignin phenolic monomers

Long-chain alkanes fuel were produced from lignin deploymerization model compounds by introducing small intermediate molecules through Friedel-Crafts alkylation and subsequent hydrogenation. The effect of catalyst, small intermediate molecules, temperature, reaction time, feed mixture ratio, and raw materials on the conversion of the lignin phenolic monomers to dimmers was investigated; after that, the C_13~19 alkanes fuel was obtained by hydrogenating the lignin phenolic dimers. The results showed that over Amberlyst-15 catalyst, with a n(guaiacol)/n(small intermediate molecules) ratio of 15:3, after reaction under 100 ℃ for 24 h, the yield of lignin phenolic dimers products reaches 68%; the lignin phenolic dimers can be further converted to alkanes completely through hydrogenation. Such a route for producing long-chain fuel may provide a new alternative for the utilization of lignin.