The RCF biorefinery: Building on a chemical platform from lignin

Lignin valorization will be pivotal for the success of future lignocellulose biorefineries. This chapter focuses on the emerging reductive catalytic fractionation (RCF) technology. In Section 1, the structure of native lignin is briefly discussed and the RCF biorefinery concept is presented. The importance of proper characterization of the resulting lignin fraction as well as their relation to the native lignin structure is highlighted herein. In Section 2, a selection of novel phenolic monomer valorization strategies is discussed including: dimerization toward renewable and safer bisphenols, amination strategies to obtain lignin-derived amines, and several production routes to phenol. In a final part, the importance of a techno-economic and life cycle assessment integrated with a thorough process design for the development of future RCF biorefineries is exemplified by a lignocellulose-to-phenol case study.