A Study of Reactivity of Model Compounds of Lignin Biopolymer

Abstract

In the framework of method of the B3LYP hybrid density functional and the restricted Hartree-Fock method, quantum-chemical calculations of model compounds of lignin, i.e. derivatives of p-hydroxycinnamic alcohol were carried out. The structures and reactivity of coumaric, coniferyl and synapol alcohols were studied. Quantitative characteristics of the reactivity of these acids are given. It is found that the electronic structure of lignin is determined primarily by the charge distribution in its structural phenylpropane unit. In the molecules of all model compounds of lignin, the center for nucleophilic attack is the carbon of aromatic ring (E-ring) with a hydroxyl group, and in the molecule of synapol alcohol, this center is also the carbon of the aromatic ring (E-ring) with a methoxy group. In all three compounds, a center with an increased electron density appears on the Сβ carbon atom.