Decoding Plant Cell Walls: Lignin Chemistry and 2D Gel-State NMR

Structural Analysis of Lignocellulosic Biomass

This event is sponsored by FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and Department of Chemical & Biomedical Engineering.

Abstract: Plant cell walls are complex natural composites composed primarily of cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin. Among these components, lignin is the most structurally complex polymer and plays a significant role in determining cell wall properties and the utilization of lignocellulosic biomass. Understanding lignin architecture is essential for advancing biomass conversion, renewable materials, and sustainable forest products. However, structural characterization of lignin within plant cell walls remains challenging because lignin is embedded in cell wall matrix tightly associated with polysaccharides and is extremely sensitive to chemical and processing conditions.

This seminar will discuss the fundamentals of lignin chemistry and recent advances in 2D NMR spectroscopy method for direct structural analysis of whole plant cell walls, with particular emphasis on the FPL Gel-State NMR method, which enables high-resolution multidimensional NMR analysis of finely ball-milled biomass samples. Research approaches for investigating lignin structure, plant cell wall architecture, and genotype-dependent variations in lignocellulosic biomass will be discussed.

Hoon Kim, Ph.D.

Research Chemist

USDA Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin

Speaker Bio: Dr. Hoon Kim is a Research Chemist at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin, where he investigates lignin chemistry and plant cell wall structure in lignocellulosic biomass. He earned his Ph.D. in Forestry and Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research focuses on elucidating the molecular architecture of plant cell walls, particularly lignin polymers, and understanding its implications for biomass utilization, while developing advanced analytical methods for plant cell wall characterization. Dr. Kim is widely recognized for pioneering 2D gel-state NMR approaches for the structural analysis of whole plant cell walls, enabling simultaneous characterization of lignin and associated polysaccharides in biomass. His work integrates fundamental lignin chemistry with applications in renewable materials, sustainable forest products, and biomass valorization.