Synthesis of novel ionic liquids from lignin-derived compounds

A lignin-derived ionic liquid prepared by

• contacting a starting material comprising lignin with a depolymerization agent to depolymerize the lignin and form a mixture of aldehyde containing compounds;
• contacting the mixture of aldehyde containing compounds with an amine under conditions suitable to convert the mixture of aldehyde containing compounds to a mixture of amine containing compounds;
• and
• contacting the mixture of amine containing compounds with a mineral acid under conditions suitable to form an ammonium salt, thereby preparing the lignin-derived ionic liquid,
• wherein the lignin-derived ionic liquid is selected from:
• wherein two the R groups of each nitrogen are CH2CH3;
• one of the R groups of each nitrogen is H;
• R′, R″, and R′″ are independently selected from the group consisting of H, OH, and OCH3;
• R4 is selected from the group consisting of H, OH, and CH2OH;
• and
• X is an acid anion selected from the group consisting of acetate, dihydrogen phosphate, and hydrogen sulfate.