Unraveling interplay between lignocellulosic structures caused by chemical pretreatments in enhancing enzymatic hydrolysis

To investigate the interplay between substrate structure and enzymatic hydrolysis (EH) efficiency, poplar was pretreated with acidic sodium-chlorite (ASC), 3 % sodium-hydroxide (3-SH), and 3 % sulfuric acid (3-SA), resulting in different glucose yields of 94.10 %, 74.35 %, and 24.51 %, respectively, of pretreated residues. Residues were fractionated into cellulose, lignin and unhydrolyzed residue after EH (for lignin-carbohydrate complex (LCC) analysis) and analyzed using HPLC, FTIR, XPS, CP MAS 13C NMR and 2D-NMR (Lignin and LCC analysis). After delignification, holocellulose exhibited a dramatic increase in glucose yield (74.35 % to 90.82 % for 3-SH and 24.51 % to 80.0 % for 3-SA). Structural analysis of holocellulose suggested the synergistic interplay among cellulose allomorphs to limit glucose yield. Residual lignin analysis from un/pretreated residues indicated that higher β-β' contents and S/G ratios were favorable to the inhibitory effect but unfavourable to the holocellulose digestibility and followed the trend in the following order: 3-SA (L3) > 3-SH (L2) > native-lignin (L1). Analysis of enzymatically unhydrolyzed pretreated residues revealed the presence of benzyl ether (BE1,2) LCC and phenyl glycoside (PG) bond linking to xylose (X) and mannose (M), which yielded a xylan-lignin-glucomannan network. The stability, steric hindrance and hydrophobicity of this network may play a central role in defining poplar recalcitrance.

Structural evolution of lignin after selective oxidation of lignin-carbohydrate complex by chlorine dioxide

Lignin-carbohydrate complexes (LCCs) are important from the perspective of the anti-depolymerization barrier of lignocellulosic biomass, as it limits the high-value utilization of lignocellulosic biomass resources. In this study, the unit structure of lignin in the LCC has been investigated in depth. Oxidation of a selective lignin unit by chlorine dioxide revealed that the LCC structures are enriched with xylanase-macroporous resins, and the structure that was not oxidized in LCC was also identified. At a chlorine dioxide concentration of 90.93 mg/L, 1 g of LCC lignin is oxidized by 0.7 g chlorine dioxide. The purified residual hemicellulose lignin was mainly H-type. The β-O-4' signal was the strongest for the bond between lignin and carbohydrates. Therefore, it is speculated that most of the residual lignin in bamboo-alkali hemicellulose exists in the form of non-phenolic structural units. This study provides a reference for further studies on the specific structures of LCC.

Chlorine dioxide oxidation of hemicellulose from alkaline hydrolysate bagasse to remove lignin unit in lignin-carbohydrate complex

Owing to the existence of lignin-carbohydrate complex (LCC) linkages, the extracted hemicellulose contains lignin, which is difficult to remove. Chlorine dioxide selectively oxidizes lignin without reacting with carbohydrates. In this study, chlorine dioxide was used to remove lignin from the hemicellulose sample. Ion chromatography and 2D-HSQC NMR were used to observe the changes in the LCC. After chlorine dioxide treatment, acid-insoluble lignin was largely degraded, with a removal rate reaching 68%. Furthermore, the 2D-HSQC NMR spectrum showed that guaiacyl (G) lignin underwent dramatic degradation and degradation of syringyl (S) lignin was also obvious. Phenyl glycoside-type LC linkages were also largely degraded. Moreover, the sugar composition and structure of the hemicellulose did not change significantly. This suggests that it is feasible to remove lignin from LCCs through oxidation of hemicellulose using chlorine dioxide. Meanwhile, hemicellulose with high molecular weight and high purity can be obtained by this method.