Through the phase-separation reaction system composed of phenol derivatives and concentrated acid, lignin and carbohydrates, which form an interpenetrating polymer network within the cell wall, were separated almost quantitatively into different phases within 20 min. The yield of carbohydrate of acid layer after the 60 minutes phase-separation treatment was 71% of raw material (98% of carbohydrate of raw material). A total yield of original lignin without grafting cresol in lignocresol, acid phase sugar and cresol phase sugar was 96% of raw material at the 60 minutes phase-separation treatment. It was possible to control conversion pattern of lignocellulosics component with the quantity of the phenol derivatives and the hydrophilicity of the phenol derivatives.
Separated carbohydrates were consisted of various sizes of oligosaccharide and high molecular weight water-soluble glucose polymers. In the phase-separation treatments with different hydrophobic phenol derivatives, the separation efficiency of lignocellulocics got higher with increasing hydrophilicity of the phenol became high because of the affinity of the phenol phase and acid phase.