A series of phenolic bio-oil components were selectively hydrodearomatized by palladium on carbon into the corresponding ketones or alcohols in excellent yields using polymethylhydrosiloxane and water as reducing agent. The selectivity of the reaction was governed by the water concentration where selectivity to alcohol was favoured at higher water concentrations. As phenolic bio-oil examples cardanol and beech wood tar creosote were studied as substrate to the developed reaction conditions. Cardanol was hydrodearomatized into 3-pentadecylcyclohexanone in excellent yield. From beech wood tar creosote, a mixture of cyclohexanols was produced. No hydrodeoxygenation occurred, suggesting the applicability of the reported method for the production of ketone-alcohol oil from biomass.

By extracting lignin, pulp production can be increased without heavy investments in a new recovery boiler, the typical bottleneck of a pulp mill. The extraction is performed by using 0.20 and 0.15 weight equivalents of CO2 and H2SO4 respectively. Herein, we describe lignin esterification with fatty acids using benign reagents to generate a lignin ester mixable with gas oils. The esterification is accomplished by activating the fatty acid and lignin with acetic anhydride which can be regenerated from the acetic acid recycled in this reaction. The resulting mass balance ratio is fatty acid/lignin/acetic acid (2 : 1 : 0.1). This lignin ester can be hydroprocessed to generate hydrocarbons in gasoline, aviation, and diesel range. A 300-hour continuous production of fuel was accomplished. By recirculating reagents from both the esterification step and applying a water gas shift reaction on off-gases from the hydroprocessing, a favorable overall mass balance is realized.

Herein, a catalytic reductive fractionation of lignocellulose is presented using a heterogeneous cobalt catalyst and formic acid or formate as a hydrogen donor. The catalytic reductive fractionation of untreated birch wood yields monophenolic compounds in up to 34 wt % yield of total lignin, which corresponds to 76% of the theoretical maximum yield. Model compound studies revealed that the main role of the cobalt catalyst is to stabilize the reactive intermediates formed during the organosolv pulping by transfer hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis reactions. Additionally, the cobalt catalyst is responsible for depolymerization reactions of lignin fragments through transfer hydrogenolysis reactions, which target the beta-O-4' bond. The catalyst could be recycled three times with only negligible decrease in efficiency, showing the robustness of the system.