Isolation of Native-Like Lignin

The isolation of lignin with a native-like structure plays an essential role in studying the structure and chemistry of lignin leading to an enhanced understanding of the fate of lignin during the processing of lignocellulosic biomass. In this chapter, we provide a practical overview of methodologies to extract lignin with a native-like structure. This overview starts from more traditional methods such as Braun's lignin and proceeds to more recently developed methods using alternative solvents and flow-through setups. Step-by-step procedures are provided as well as critical steps within these are discussed. Also, more recent extraction methods that modify the lignin β-O-4 structure and protect it from degradation yielding lignin with high C—O linkage content are included.