The chemical synthesis of a series of lignin-derived nitrogenated compounds was performed in high yields (73–99%) through simple conventional chemical transformations starting from natural monomers such as vanillin, syringaldehyde or 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde. The study of the vanillin-derived compounds as substrates for commercially available laccases from Trametes versicolor and Myceliophthora thermophila