Lignin chemistry and topochemistry during kraft delignification of Eucalyptus globulus genotypes with contrasting pulpwood characteristics

Abstract Eucalyptus globulus Labill. is a short-fibre resource for pulp and paper production. Ten different E. globulus genotypes with varied pulpwood quality and chemical composition were evaluated under kraft pulping conditions. Characterisation of the wood and pulp samples by thioacidolysis indicated that the content of syringyl units in β-O-4 linkages (S-β-O-4) was distinct for the studied genotypes. The highest S-β-O-4 levels were detected in the samples with the lowest original lignin and highest glucan levels. This group of samples provided the pulps with the lowest final lignin content at higher yields. UV microspectrophotometric (UMSP) evaluation of the wood chips revealed that the samples with the lowest lignin levels have the lowest UV absorbances at 278 nm (A_{278 nm}) in the secondary walls (S₂). During kraft pulping, lignin from the S₂ was dissolved, whereas lignins from the middle lamella and cell corner lignin was not removed not even for prolonged reaction periods, independently of the evaluated genotype. The A_{278 nm} values of the S₂ were significantly lower in the pulps from the genotypes with less original lignin content.