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Official Journal of the Japan Wood Research Society

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Electropolymerization of coniferyl alcohol

Abstract

Electropolymerization of coniferyl alcohol was carried out in an aqueous system (0.2 M NaOH) and in an organic solvent system [CH2Cl2/methanol (4:1 v/v) in the presence of 0.2 M LiClO4] to produce a dehydrogenation polymer (DHP) - artificial lignin. In both systems, the polymerization of coniferyl alcohol was visually confi rmed. In the aqueous system, no dimer was detected in the reaction medium after electropolymerization, suggesting that endwise polymerization occurred on the electrode surface. Thioacidolysis degradation revealed that the obtained polymers had numerous 8-O-4′ linkages. The electropolymerization products obtained in the organic solvent system also had numerous 8-O-4′ linkages; in particular, the polymers obtained in the initial polymerization stage. This was probably because of the limited area available for reaction and the orientation of coniferyl alcohol on the electrode surface controlled the polymerization.

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Correspondence to Yasuyuki Matsushita.

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Part of this report was presented at the 52nd Lignin Symposium, Utsunomiya, Japan, November, 2007

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Matsushita, Y., Sekiguchi, T., Ichino, R. et al. Electropolymerization of coniferyl alcohol. J Wood Sci 55, 344–349 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10086-009-1037-1

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