Issue 3, 2012

The impact of ionic liquid pretreatment on the chemistry and enzymatic digestibility of Pinus radiata compression wood

Abstract

Compression wood represents a unique challenge for biochemical processing of softwoods to biofuels and chemicals on account of its high lignin and galactan, and low glucan contents. Here we report the impact of ionic liquid pretreatment on the chemistry and enzymatic digestibility of Pinus radiata compression wood and opposite wood. Samples were pretreated using 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate at 120 °C and 155 °C for 3 h. Hemicelluloses were preferentially extracted during the pretreatment and the recovered biomass was enriched in cellulose and lignin. The pretreatment caused structural modifications to the lignin and polysaccharides that included loss of ether linkages and formation of condensed structures in the lignin, reduced cellulose crystallinity and possible depolymerisation of polysaccharide chains. The enzymatic digestibility of the cellulose was significantly enhanced in both wood types after pretreatment. Approximately 90% of the glucan was converted to glucose after enzyme treatment for 24 h following pretreatment at 120 °C compared to only 3–8% in untreated samples. Because the ionic liquid pretreatment was equally effective on both compression wood and opposite wood the outcome of the saccharification was largely determined by the original chemical composition of the two wood types.

Graphical abstract: The impact of ionic liquid pretreatment on the chemistry and enzymatic digestibility of Pinus radiata compression wood

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
31 Oct 2011
Accepted
22 Dec 2011
First published
30 Jan 2012

Green Chem., 2012,14, 778-787

The impact of ionic liquid pretreatment on the chemistry and enzymatic digestibility of Pinus radiata compression wood

K. M. Torr, K. T. Love, Ö. P. Çetinkol, L. A. Donaldson, A. George, B. M. Holmes and B. A. Simmons, Green Chem., 2012, 14, 778 DOI: 10.1039/C2GC16362D

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