The conversion of lignin, an important sustainable biopolymer, into clearly defined monomer compounds is both a significant and appealing challenge. However, this process configuration normally requires high temperatures, elevated H 2 pressures, and a great amount of solvent used. To address these challenges, this study developed a highly effective catalytic system comprising Lewis‐acidic organoboranes (B(C 6 F 5 ) 3 ) and triethylsilane (Et 3 SiH) to catalytically depolymerize lignin derived from wasted seed coats (macadamia, camellia, apricot, and walnut) into pyrocatechol/gallol derivatives (yield: 14.6–33.3 wt%) under ambient conditions. The analysis using GC‐MS and 2D‐NMR spectroscopy revealed that the βO4 bonds within lignin are notably severed after the depolymerization. Reactive screening of different βO4 mimics provides insights into understanding the mechanism of lignin depolymerization in the proposed system. Overall, our results indicated a green and sustainable approach for the production of pyrocatechol/gallol from biomass waste.
Su et al. (Sun,) studied this question.