Facile enzymatic C_γ-acylation of lignin model compounds

Simple β-O-4’ linked dimeric model compounds are often targeted as substrate to mimic the reactivity of lignin in enzymatic or chemical treatments. These models mimic the structure and reactivity of regular β-O-4′ linkages in lignin, but are less suitable to predict the reactivity of acylated β-O-4′ substructures, which are abundant in various types of lignin. Here, we present a one-step lipase-catalyzed acylation of a commercially available lignin model compound with p-coumaric acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, cinnamic acid and acetic acid as acyl donors. This facile procedure allows to obtain new and relevant lignin model compounds at milligram scale, with simple purification of products and unreacted substrate.