Determination of Sugarcane Bagasse Lignin S/G/H Ratio by Pyrolysis GC/MS

Abstract

In this work, analytical pyrolysis (Py-GC-MS) was employed to identify lignin markers derived from H, S, and G phenylpropanoid units in sugarcane bagasse. Temperatures of 450 and 500°C allowed the detection of key products that were informative on the bagasse lignin composition. The method was validated by comparing the S/G ratio as determined by the nitrobenzene oxidation (NBO) standard method for five sugarcane varieties. The S/G ratio as determined by Py-GC-MS, taking into consideration all known lignin markers in the analysis, resulted in a correlation coefficient of 0.85 with a linear regression coefficient of 0.74. When a group of selected markers (M2) was used, the correlation coefficient between methods was improved to 0.95 and the linear regression coefficient was adjusted to 0.92. M2 markers consisted of five syringyl markers (syringol, 4-methylsyringol, 4-ethylsyringol, 4-vinylsyringol, and trans-4-propenylsyringol) and four guaiacyl markers (guaiacol, 4-vinylguaiacol, 4-methylguaiacol, and vanillin). Importantly, Py-GC-MS allowed for the study of lignin composition in sugarcane bagasse without the need to remove the extractives, minimizing the work with sample preparations.

Keywords:

• Sugarcane
• lignin
• S/G/H composition
• analytical pyrolysis
• bagasse

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to CNPq (Nacional Council for Scientific and Technological Development, Brazil) for financial support (Project: 552741/2007-8/Grant: 380512/ 2008-4).