Selective lignin conversion via flow photocatalysis for vanillin and bioplasticizers production

Xavier Marset; Salvador Montilla-Verdú; Francisco J. Pastor; Elio Rico; Jaume Gomez-Caturla; Mario Miranda-Pinzon; Carlos Lazaro-Hdez; Stefania Bertella; Manuel A. Ortuño; Rafael Balart; Ulrich Aschauer; Néstor Guijarro

doi:10.1038/s41467-026-73706-9

Selective lignin conversion via flow photocatalysis for vanillin and bioplasticizers production

Xavier Marset
, Salvador Montilla-Verdú
, Francisco J. Pastor
, Elio Rico
, Jaume Gomez-Caturla
, Mario Miranda-Pinzon
, Carlos Lazaro-Hdez
, Stefania Bertella
, Manuel A. Ortuño
, Rafael Balart
, Ulrich Aschauer
, Néstor Guijarro^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

BA5404 Lignin and sidestream valorization

University of Alicante
Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)
University of Salzburg

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

Abstract

Lignin valorization remains a roadblock in the development of green biorefineries. Currently, depolymerization strategies predominantly depend on energy- and resource-intensive thermochemical methods, while potential applications of the resulting bio-based products are often overlooked. Here, we show a scalable photocatalytic flow reactor for lignin deconstruction that operates at ambient conditions, along with a downstream process that yields commercially viable products at gram scale. An anthraquinone-based photocatalytic platform, when packed in a flow bed reactor, is demonstrated to selectively and nearly quantitatively cleave lignin’s β-O-4 moieties, achieving a benchmark yield of 7.1 wt% for vanillin. The utilization of residual oligomers as plasticizers for biobased polylactic acid resulted in improved mechanical properties and shape memory effects, while maintaining its suitability for conventional 3D printing. This aldehyde-oriented platform represents a key advancement that complements existing ketone-oriented photocatalytic approaches targeting valuable chemicals from lignin conversion, and it ultimately contributes to the holistic utilization of lignin.

Original language	English
Article number	6883
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	17
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73706-9
Publication status	Published - 2026
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

This research is a part of the grant PID2023-152869OB-C22, and the grant TED2021-131762A-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union “NextGenerationEU”/PRTR. The authors also thank Generalitat Valenciana - GVA, grant number CIGE/2023/46 and CIAICO/2023/253, for supporting this work. J. G.-C. wants to thank FPU20/01732 grant funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ESF Investing in your future. M.M.-P. thanks Vice-rectorate for Research of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) for funding a predoctoral contract in the PAID-01-24 program. M.A.O. thanks the “Ramon y Cajal” Program (RYC2022-035453-I) funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and FSE +. C.L.-H. wants to thank CIACIF/2023/244 grant funded by Generalitat Valenciana – GVA. N.G. thanks the “Ramon y Cajal” Program (RYC2018-023888-I) funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033. The authors also thank the support of the Generalitat Valenciana/FEDER (Spain) through the project IDIFEDER/2020/002. This research is also part of the project PID2021-128805NA-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union “NextGenerationEU”/PRTR. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 948829).

Access to Document

10.1038/s41467-026-73706-9Licence: CC BY

Cite this

Marset, X., Montilla-Verdú, S., Pastor, F. J., Rico, E., Gomez-Caturla, J., Miranda-Pinzon, M., Lazaro-Hdez, C., Bertella, S., Ortuño, M. A., Balart, R., Aschauer, U., & Guijarro, N. (2026). Selective lignin conversion via flow photocatalysis for vanillin and bioplasticizers production. Nature Communications, 17(1), Article 6883. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73706-9

@article{76101aedc9a24a0cb18b8f2f32ec4f07,

title = "Selective lignin conversion via flow photocatalysis for vanillin and bioplasticizers production",

abstract = "Lignin valorization remains a roadblock in the development of green biorefineries. Currently, depolymerization strategies predominantly depend on energy- and resource-intensive thermochemical methods, while potential applications of the resulting bio-based products are often overlooked. Here, we show a scalable photocatalytic flow reactor for lignin deconstruction that operates at ambient conditions, along with a downstream process that yields commercially viable products at gram scale. An anthraquinone-based photocatalytic platform, when packed in a flow bed reactor, is demonstrated to selectively and nearly quantitatively cleave lignin{\textquoteright}s β-O-4 moieties, achieving a benchmark yield of 7.1 wt\% for vanillin. The utilization of residual oligomers as plasticizers for biobased polylactic acid resulted in improved mechanical properties and shape memory effects, while maintaining its suitability for conventional 3D printing. This aldehyde-oriented platform represents a key advancement that complements existing ketone-oriented photocatalytic approaches targeting valuable chemicals from lignin conversion, and it ultimately contributes to the holistic utilization of lignin.",

author = "Xavier Marset and Salvador Montilla-Verd{\'u} and Pastor, \{Francisco J.\} and Elio Rico and Jaume Gomez-Caturla and Mario Miranda-Pinzon and Carlos Lazaro-Hdez and Stefania Bertella and Ortu{\~n}o, \{Manuel A.\} and Rafael Balart and Ulrich Aschauer and N{\'e}stor Guijarro",

year = "2026",

doi = "10.1038/s41467-026-73706-9",

language = "English",

volume = "17",

journal = "Nature Communications",

issn = "2041-1723",

publisher = "Springer Nature",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Selective lignin conversion via flow photocatalysis for vanillin and bioplasticizers production

AU - Marset, Xavier

AU - Montilla-Verdú, Salvador

AU - Pastor, Francisco J.

AU - Rico, Elio

AU - Gomez-Caturla, Jaume

AU - Miranda-Pinzon, Mario

AU - Lazaro-Hdez, Carlos

AU - Bertella, Stefania

AU - Ortuño, Manuel A.

AU - Balart, Rafael

AU - Aschauer, Ulrich

AU - Guijarro, Néstor

PY - 2026

Y1 - 2026

N2 - Lignin valorization remains a roadblock in the development of green biorefineries. Currently, depolymerization strategies predominantly depend on energy- and resource-intensive thermochemical methods, while potential applications of the resulting bio-based products are often overlooked. Here, we show a scalable photocatalytic flow reactor for lignin deconstruction that operates at ambient conditions, along with a downstream process that yields commercially viable products at gram scale. An anthraquinone-based photocatalytic platform, when packed in a flow bed reactor, is demonstrated to selectively and nearly quantitatively cleave lignin’s β-O-4 moieties, achieving a benchmark yield of 7.1 wt% for vanillin. The utilization of residual oligomers as plasticizers for biobased polylactic acid resulted in improved mechanical properties and shape memory effects, while maintaining its suitability for conventional 3D printing. This aldehyde-oriented platform represents a key advancement that complements existing ketone-oriented photocatalytic approaches targeting valuable chemicals from lignin conversion, and it ultimately contributes to the holistic utilization of lignin.

AB - Lignin valorization remains a roadblock in the development of green biorefineries. Currently, depolymerization strategies predominantly depend on energy- and resource-intensive thermochemical methods, while potential applications of the resulting bio-based products are often overlooked. Here, we show a scalable photocatalytic flow reactor for lignin deconstruction that operates at ambient conditions, along with a downstream process that yields commercially viable products at gram scale. An anthraquinone-based photocatalytic platform, when packed in a flow bed reactor, is demonstrated to selectively and nearly quantitatively cleave lignin’s β-O-4 moieties, achieving a benchmark yield of 7.1 wt% for vanillin. The utilization of residual oligomers as plasticizers for biobased polylactic acid resulted in improved mechanical properties and shape memory effects, while maintaining its suitability for conventional 3D printing. This aldehyde-oriented platform represents a key advancement that complements existing ketone-oriented photocatalytic approaches targeting valuable chemicals from lignin conversion, and it ultimately contributes to the holistic utilization of lignin.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105045226513

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-026-73706-9

DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-73706-9

M3 - Article

C2 - 42203777

AN - SCOPUS:105045226513

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 17

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

IS - 1

M1 - 6883

ER -

Selective lignin conversion via flow photocatalysis for vanillin and bioplasticizers production

Abstract

Funding

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this