AbstractsChemistry

Authorities in the field of lignin chemistry have agreed that the lignin complex is an extremely sensitive material which is chemically changed during isolation by mineral acids or alkalies, by acidulated organic solvents, by hot sulfite solutions or by many other reagents. Since present methods of isolating lignin involve such drastic treatments, the products probably bear only an indirect structural relationship to lignin "in situ". In consequence, very little is known of the nature of lignin as it exists in wood. The problem of isolating unchanged lignin seems to depend upon the development of methods that avoid drastic conditions of acidity and temperature.