From the inexhaustible raw material lignin, which as a constituent of many plants accumulates in great quantities, fuels and other important substances could in theory be extracted for industry – so far, though, it can’t be done efficiently enough. Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and ETH Zurich have now found a method for identifying heretofore unseen intermediate products of the catalytic reactions used for this conversion. This could enable more targeted improvement of production methods in the future. The study appears in the latest issue of the journal Nature Communications.