Ruthenium-Catalyzed C-C Bond Cleavage in Lignin Model Substrates.

Ruthenium-triphos complexes exhibited unprecedented catalytic activity and selectivity in the redox-neutral C-C bond cleavage of the α-O-4 lignin linkage of 1,3-dilignol model compounds. A mechanistic pathway involving a dehydrogenation- initiated retro-aldol reaction for the C-C bond cleavage was proposed in line with experimental data and DFT calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]