Comparison of dehydrogenase polymer (DHP) lignin with native lignin from gymnosperm wood by thermochemolysis using tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH)

When analyzed by the TMAH thermochemolysis procedure and solid-state 13C NMR, DHP guaiacyl lignin is found to yield products which are somewhat similar to those observed in fresh or degraded gymnosperm lignin. The relative amounts of the various TMAH products, particularly the stereoisomeric pairs of 3,4-dimethoxyphenyl-trimethoxypropane, however, are not identical, perhaps indicating that disordered and randomly polymerized DHP lignin is not similar to a possibly more ordered network in natural lignin.