Light-Driven Formate-Salts-Induced Cleavage of Oxidized Lignin Model Compounds

We report a light-induced cleavage of oxidized lignin model compounds utilizing formate salts. For compounds containing an aliphatic hydroxyl (γ-OH) group, the employment of a hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) catalyst was crucial to preserving the efficacy of the fragmentation reaction. Furthermore, we successfully converted a trimeric oxidized model compound into the desired products with moderate yields.