BACKGROUND Conversion of plant cell walls to bioethanol and bio-based chemicals requires pretreatment as a necessary step to reduce recalcitrance of cell walls to enzymatic and microbial deconstruction. In this study, the sweet sorghum stems were subjected to various hydrothermal pretreatment processes (110°C to 230°C, 0.5 to 2.0 h), and the focus of this work is to systematically evaluate the ...

The results of investigations of the topological and supramolecular structures of lignins are considered. The experimental data on the hydrodynamic and conformational properties of dilute solutions of hardwood and softwood lignins are generalised. The relationship between hydrodynamic and fractal properties of ligninmacromolecules is analysed and the applicability of various fractal concepts is...

A series of transgenic poplars down-regulated for cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) was analyzed by thioacidolysis. Among the lignin-derived monomers, the indene compounds that were recently shown to originate from sinapaldehyde incorporated into lignins through 8-O-4-cross-coupling, were found to increase as a function of CAD deficiency level. While these syringyl markers were recovered in ...

Sugarcane bagasse was pretreated by green liquor combined with ethanol (GL-Ethanol) and green liquor combined with H2O2 (GL-H2O2). After 72 h of enzymatic hydrolysis, the glucose yields of sugarcane bagasse pretreated with GL-Ethanol and GL-H2O2 were 97.7% and 41.7%, respectively. The reason that GL-Ethanol was more effective than GLH2O2 has not been elucidated clearly. In this study, the chemi...

This work offers a comprehensive understanding of the conditions required for the selective masking of the phenolic hydroxyl groups in technical kraft lignins, which is pivotal in determining their subsequent chemical and thermal reactivity. To this effect, we have examined the chemistry and developed the conditions for the facile, mild, and selective masking of the phenolic hydroxyl groups in ...

The current challenges in developing a cost-effective bioethanol industry include the production of not only high-volume, low cost biofuels but also high-value products with minimal downstream waste. The up-grading of side-stream lignins from bioethanol production plants to novel high-value products will improve the profitability of the bioethanol industry; to do that, a precise understanding o...

The ability of selected bacterial strains and consortia to mineralize degradation intermediates produced by Phanerochaete chrysosporium from 14C-labeled synthetic lignins was studied. Three different molecular weight fractions of the intermediates were subjected to the action of the bacteria, which had been grown on a lignin-related dimeric compound. Two consortia isolated from wood being decay...

2D NMR revealed a correspondence between the molecular structure of lignins and their degree of acylation in several nonwoody angiosperms characterized by different lignin acylation types (acetate and/or p-coumarate esters) and extents (up to more that 90% of units). Some of the lignin substructures identified showed that acylation is produced at the monolignol level. Direct evidence was also p...