Adsorption mediated tandem acid catalyzed cellulose hydrolysis by ortho-substituted benzoic acids

Mechanochemical Hydrolysis of Polysaccharide Biomass: Scope and Mechanistic Insights

Mechanical forces can affect chemical reactions in a way that thermal reactions cannot do, which may have a variety of applications. In biomass conversion, the selective conversion of cellulose and chitin is a grand challenge because they are the top two most abundant resources and recalcitrant materials that are insoluble in common solvents. However, recent works have clarified that mechanical forces enable the depolymerization of these polysaccharides, leading to the selective production of corresponding monomers and oligomers. This article reviews the mechanochemical hydrolysis of cellulose and chitin, particularly focusing on the scope and mechanisms to show a landscape of this research field and future subjects. We introduce the background of mechanochemistry and biomass conversion, followed by recent progress on the mechanochemical hydrolysis of the polysaccharides. Afterwards, a considerable space is devoted to the mechanistic consideration on the mechanochemical reactions.

Selective Synthesis of Oligosaccharides by Mechanochemical Hydrolysis of Chitin over a Carbon-Based Catalyst

Oligosaccharides possess fascinating functions that are applicable in a variety of fields, such as agriculture. However, the selective synthesis of oligosaccharides, especially chitin-oligosaccharides, has remained a challenge. Chitin-oligosaccharides activate the plant immune system, enabling crops to withstand pathogens without harmful agrichemicals. Here, we demonstrate the conversion of chitin to chitin-oligosaccharides using a carbon catalyst with weak acid sites and mechanical milling. The catalyst produces chitin-oligosaccharides with up to 94 % selectivity in good yields. Monte-Carlo simulations indicate that our system preferentially hydrolyzes larger chitin molecules over oligomers, thus providing the desired high selectivity. This unique kinetics is in contrast to the fact that typical catalytic systems rapidly hydrolyze oligomers to monomers. Unlike other materials carbons more strongly adsorb large polysaccharides than small oligomers, which is suitable for the selective synthesis of small oligosaccharides.

Acceleration by double activation catalysis and its negation with rising temperature in hydrolysis of cellobiose with phthalic and hydrochloric acids

Double activation catalysis was experimentally observed in hydrolysis of cellobiose catalyzed simultaneously with phthalic and hydrochloric acids, confirming earlier theoretical prediction known from literature. Both acids can catalyze the reaction individually, and contribution of the double-activation pathway to the total reaction rate declines as temperature increases. In fact, above a certain temperature, the hydrolysis rate in presence of both acids becomes lower than the sum of the rates for the two acids acting individually. A kinetic model is proposed to explain this transition between double-activated catalysis and inhibition. The trend of declining contribution of cooperative catalytic pathway with rising temperature is theorized to be generally applicable for any reaction with a pathway involving simultaneous action of two catalysts when either of them can individually catalyze the reaction.

The Effect of Dicarboxylic Acid Catalyst Structure on Hydrolysis of Cellulose Model Compound D-Cellobiose in Water

Background:

Polycarboxylic acids are of interest as simple mimics for cellulase enzyme catalyzed depolymerization of cellulose. In this study, DFT calculations were used to investigate the effect of structure on dicarboxylic acid organo-catalyzed hydrolysis of cellulose model compound D-cellobiose to D-glucose.

Methods:

Binding energy of the complex formed between D-cellobiose and acid (Ebind), as well as glycosidic oxygen to dicarboxylic acid closest acidic H distance were studied as key parameters affecting the turn over frequency of hydrolysis in water.

Result:

α-D-cellobiose - dicarboxylic acid catalyst down face approach showed high Ebind values for five of the six acids studied; indicating the favorability of down face approach. Maleic, cis-1,2-cyclohexane dicarboxylic, and phthalic acids with the highest catalytic activities showed glycosidic oxygen to dicarboxylic acid acidic H distances 3.5-3.6 Å in the preferred configuration.

Conclusion:

The high catalytic activities of these acids may be due to the rigid structure, where acid groups are held in a fixed geometry.

On the Electronic Structure Origin of Mechanochemically Induced Selectivity in Acid-Catalyzed Chitin Hydrolysis

Recently, mechanical ball milling was applied to chitin depolymerization. The mechanical activation afforded higher selectivity toward glycosidic bond cleavage over amide bond breakage. Hence, the bioactive N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) monomer was preferentially produced over glucosamine. In this regard, the force-dependent mechanochemical activation-deactivation process in the relaxed and pulled GlcNAc dimer undergoing deacetylation and depolymerization reactions was studied. For the relaxed case, the activation energies of the rate-determining steps (RDS) proved that the two reactions could occur simultaneously. Mechanical forces associated with ball milling were approximated with linear pulling and were introduced explicitly in the RDS of both reactions through force-modified potential energy surface (FMPES) formalism. In general, as the applied pulling force increases, the activation energy of the RDS of deacetylation shows no meaningful change, while that of depolymerization decreases. This result is consistent with the selectivity exhibited in the experiment. Energy and structural analyses for the depolymerization showed that the activation can be attributed to a significant change in the glycosidic dihedral at the reactant state. A lone pair of the neighboring pyranose ring O adopts a syn-periplanar conformation relative to the glycosidic bond. This promotes electron donation to the σ*-orbital of the glycosidic bond, leading to activation. Consequently, the Brønsted-Lowry basicity of the glycosidic oxygen also increases, which can facilitate acid catalysis.