ATTEMPTS TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF PHENOLIC AND ETHERIFIED COMPONENTS OF WOOD LIGNIN

Periodate oxidation, because of its high selectivity in degrading phen olic nuclei, has been combined with nitrobenzene oxidation and phenyl nucleus exchange techniques to investigate the nature of wood lignin i n situ. For both softwood and hardwood, the phenolic and etherified co mponents of wood lignin have been shown to differ significantly in che mical composition, and the etherified lignin structure appears to be s ubstantially more condensed.