Kristian Barrett

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Introduction Lignin, the largest renewable source of aromatic carbon in nature, is a heteropolymer composed of phenylpropanoid units that vary in the degree of ortho-methoxylation, namely hydroxyphenyl (H), guaiacyl (G), and syringyl (S) units (Figure 1). The intrinsically heterogeneous mixture of H, G, and S-type products generated during lignin depolymerization via biological or chemical processing routes represents a major challenge to their further use as plant-based chemicals and materials.