Lignin Reactions and Structural Alternations under Typical Biomass Pretreatment Methods

The utilization of biomass in the production of renewable bioenergy and biomaterials has been a popular topic since the past decades as they are rich in carbohydrates. Most biomasses, such as wood, monocotyledons, and agriculture residues, need to be pretreated before the conversion of carbohydrates in order to break down the recalcitrant cell wall structure and increase the fiber accessibility. To date, a variety of pretreatment methods have been developed that vary from physical to chemical and biological methods. Pretreatment processes affect the cell wall physical structure as well as the chemical structure of the cell wall constituents. Comparing to the studies of the cellulose and hemicelluloses structural changes during pretreatment, such studies on lignin are relatively limited. On the other hand, in order to utilize the part of lignin from biorefinery processes, the understanding of the lignin structural changes during the refining process becomes important. In this study, typical pretreatment methods such as hydrothermal pretreatment, alkaline pretreatment, biodegradation, and oxidative pretreatment are introduced and their corresponding impacts on the lignin structures are reviewed.