Separation of high-purity syringol and acetosyringone from rice straw-derived bio-oil by combining the basification-acidification process and column chromatography.

ABSTRACT

Numerous technologies have been used to reclaim valuable chemicals from bio-oil. In this study, a combination of the basification-acidification process and column chromatography was employed for the separation of high-purity syringol and acetosyringone from rice straw-derived bio-oil. The optimal conditions for the basification-acidification process and the possible precipitation mechanism of the basification were explored. The results showed the following as the optimal conditions for the basification process mass ratio of calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2 ) to bio-oil, 2.0; reaction temperature, 70°C; and reaction time, 30 min. The results also showed that 1.6 mol of hydrochloric acid (HCl) per gram of bio-oil was optimal for the acidification. The precipitation was found to proceed via a possible mechanism involving the reaction of the phenolic compounds in the bio-oil with Ca(OH)2 to produce a precipitate. After further separation by column chromatography, purities of 91.4 and 96.2% (from gas chromatography-mass spectrometry) were obtained for syringol and acetosyringone, respectively. Their recoveries for the whole process were 73.0 and 39.3%, respectively.