Patent ID: 8685672

Claim:
A method of manufacturing modified lignin, the method comprising conducting a lignin-producing polymerization reaction in the presence of one or more polymerizable monomers selected from the group consisting of: wherein R 1 and R 2 are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, â•O, hydroxy, alkyloxy, alkanoyl, alkanoyloxy, hydroxy-substituted alkoxy or alkanoyl or alkanoyloxy, benzoyloxy, monosaccharide, disaccharide, gallate esters of mono- and disaccharides, and mono-, di- and tri-hydroxy-substituted benzoyloxy; R 3 -R 6 are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, hydroxy, alkyl, alkyloxy, hydroxy-substituted alkyl, hydroxy-substituted alkoxy, benzoyloxy, and mono-, di- and tri-hydroxy-substituted benzoyloxy, provided that at least one of R 3 -R 6 is hydroxy; R 7 -R 11 are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, hydroxy, alkyl, alkyloxy, hydroxy-substituted alkyl, and hydroxy-substituted alkoxy, provided that at least one of R 7 -R 11 is hydroxyl; wherein at least one of the polymerizable monomers is incorporated into the resulting lignin.