Monolignol acylation and lignin structure in some nonwoody plants: A 2D-NMR study

Three non-wood lignins differing in their molecular structure were isolated and characterized by 2D-NMR. The Musa textilis milled-wood lignin (MWL), with a syringyl-to-guaiacyl (S/G) ratio of 9, is strongly acylated (near 85% of side-chains) at the γ-carbon by both acetates and p-coumarates, as estimated from 13C-1H correlations in Cγ-esterified and Cγ-OH units. The p-coumarate C3,5-H3,5 signal was completely displaced by acetylation, and disappeared after alkali treatment, indicating that p-coumaric acid was esterified maintaining its free phenolic group. By contrast, the Cannabis sativa MWL (S/G ~0.8) was free of acylating groups, and the Agave sisalana MWL (S/G ~4) showed high acylation degree (near 80%) but exclusively with acetates. Extensive Cγ-acylation results in the absence (in M. textilis lignin) or low abundance (4% in A. sisalana lignin) of β-β' resinol linkages, which require free Cγ-OH to form the double tetrahydrofuran ring. However, minor signals revealed unusual acylated β-β' structures confirming that acylation is produced at the monolignol level, in agreement with chromatographic identification of γ-acetylated sinapyl alcohol among the plant extractives. In contrast, resinol substructures involved 22% side-chains in the C. sativa lignin. The ratio between β-β' and β-O-4' side-chains varied from 0.32 in the latter lignin to 0.02-0.07 in the two other MWL, and was inversely correlated with the degree of acylation. The opposite was observed for the S/G ratio that was directly correlated with the acylation degree. Monolignol acylation in these and other angiosperms is discussed as a mechanism contributing to regulate the structure of lignin.The study was funded by the BIORENEW EU-project (NMP2-CT-2006-26456), and the Spanish projects BIO2005-3569, BIO2007-28719-E, BIO2007-28720-E, BIO2008-01533, AGL2005-01748 and AGL2008-00709/FOR. CELESA (Tortosa, Spain) is acknowledged for providing the plant materials analyzed. J.I. Santos (CIB, CSIC, Madrid) is acknowledged for help in the NMR studies. D.I. and J.R. thank I3P Fellowships of the Spanish CSIC, and G.M. thanks the Spanish MEC for an FPI FellowshipPeer reviewe