Enhancing the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulosic materials using simultaneous ball milling

One of the limiting factors restricting the effective and efficient bioconversion of softwood-derived lignocellulosic residues is the recalcitrance of the substrate following pretreatment. Consequently, the ensuing enzymatic process requires relatively high enzyme loadings to produce monomeric carbohydrates that are readily fermentable by ethanologenic microorganisms. In an attempt to circumvent the need for larger enzyme loadings, a simultaneous physical and enzymatic hydrolysis treatment was evaluated. A ball-mill reactor was used as the digestion vessel, and the extent and rate of hydrolysis were monitored. Concurrently, enzyme adsorption profiles and the rate of conversion during the course of hydrolysis were monitored. α-Cellulose, employed as a model substrate, and SO₂-impregnated steam-exploded Douglas-fir wood chips were assessed as the cellulosic substrates. The softwood-derived substrate was further posttreated with water and hot alkaline hydrogen peroxide to remove >90% of the original lignin. Experiments at different reaction conditions were evaluated, including substrate concentration, enzyme loading, reaction volumes, and number of ball beads employed during mechanical milling. It was apparent that the best conditions for the enzymatic hydrolysis of α-cellulose were attained using a higher number of beads, while the presence of air-liquid interface did not seem to affect the rate of saccharification. Similarly, when employing the lignocellulosic substrate, up to 100% hydrolysis could be achieved with a minimum enzyme loading (10 filter paper units/g of cellulose), at lower substrate concentrations and with a greater number of reaction beads during milling. It was apparent that the combined strategy of simultaneous ball milling and enzymatic hydrolysis could improve the rate of saccharification and/or reduce the enzyme loading required to attain total hydrolysis of the carbohydrate moieties.     

Effects of cell-wall acetate,xylan backbone,and lignin on enzymatic hydrolysis of aspen wood

Aspen wood substrates with varying degrees of deacetylation, xylan, and lignin removal have been prepared and submitted to enzymatic hydrolysis with a cellulase/hemicellulase preparation for an extended constant period of hydrolysis. Controlled deacetylation has been achieved by treating wood with various alkali metal hydroxide solutions, at various alkali/wood ratios. It has been found that samples with the same extent of deacetylation produce the same sugar yields upon enzymatic hydrolysis. Increased degree of deacetylation increases the yield of sugars obtained from enzymatic hydrolysis, all other compositional parameters held constant. The acetyl group removal is proportional to the stoichiometric relation between added base and wood acetyl content, i.e., the same number of milliequivalents of base/weight of wood remove the same extent of acetyl groups, regardless of the concentration of the base solution. No cation effects are found among Li, Na, and K alkali hydroxide solutions, suggesting that swelling is not as important a parameter as is the removal of the acetyl groups from the xylan backbone in determining the extent of hydrolyzability of the resulting sample.     

Chemical conversion of various celluloses to glucose and its derivatives in supercritical water

The supercritical water biomass conversion system was designed and developed in our laboratory. The reaction vessel with cellulose sample was treated with this system at supercritical state of water for a designated period (3–105s) under the conditions of a tin bath temperature of 500°C and pressure of 35MPa. The recovered products of hydrolysates were then analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. The obtained results indicated that a high amount of glucose and levoglucosan can be achieved from both celluloses I and II for 5–10s supercritical treatment, while that from starch for 3–5s treatment. Although this difference could be due to a difference in the molecular structure between cellulose and starch, a difference between celluloses I and II was not significant. Instead, an accessibility of the water towards cellulose molecules seemed to be significant for their chemical conversion. With the longer treatment, amounts of these compounds observed were decreased due to decomposition. Therefore, it may be concluded that, compared with acid hydrolysis or enzymatic saccharification, cellulose may be hydrolyzed to glucose and its derivatives more or less to the same degree as in corn starch under supercritical state. This finding suggests that the supercritical treatment can overcome the difficulties in hydrolyzing cellulose to glucose, found in the acid hydrolysis or enzymatic saccharification techniques.     

The Crystalline Changes of Starch from Rhizoma Dioscorea by Acid Hydrolysis

Dioscoreae (Chinese name Shanyao), the rhizome of various species of genus Dioscorea opposita Thunb.(Dioscoreaceae), has been used as an important invigorant in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for many years1. Starch, the most abundant carbohydrate in …     

Solution Stoichiometry Control for Pure LiLaMo2O8Phases in Sol-Gel Preparation

The hydrolysis of solutions, containing either LiMo₂O₄(OPr ⁱ )₅( ⁱ PrOH) and “La(OPr ⁱ )₃” or LiOPr ⁱ and La₂Mo₄O₈(OPr ⁱ )₁₄ in 1∶1 ratio, in toluene or ⁱ PrOH, by water solutions in isopropanol, leads to formation of monolythic gels. The latter can be converted by drying and heat treatment at 600°C into a fine powder of pure α-LiLaMo₂O₈ phase, which is transformed into β-LiLaMo₂O₈ powder by annealing at 800°C. The sintering of the pellets pressed under 4 bar pressure of α-LiLaMo₂O₈ powder at 800°C for 2 h converts them into pieces of β-LiLaMo₂O₈ transparent ceramics, thus providing a route to LiLnMo₂O₈ laser waveguide materials.     

前驱体水解对纳米铂形状控制合成的影响

以聚丙烯酸钠(NaPA: M_w ≈ 2100)为保护剂，对比研究了H_2还原K_2PtCl_4 和K_2PtCl_6水溶液制备纳米铂晶粒的形状选择性，揭示了前驱体的水解对纳米铂 晶粒的形状控制合成具有显著影响。文献中通常采用的合成立方形状纳米铂的 K_2PtCl_4前驱体在水溶液中不稳定，避光静置一周会析出黑色沉淀。这种不稳定 性导致了以K_2PtCl_4为Pt前驱体的合成结果难以重复。相比而言，避光静墨的 K_2PtCl_6水溶液很稳定，以它为前驱体合成的纳米铂通常为削角八面体。 K_2PtCl_6水溶液暴露于室内光线中会出现[PtCl_6]~(-2)的光致水解。当[PtCl_6] ~(2-)的紫外特征吸收峰(260nm)由于光致水解完全消失后，以聚丙烯酸钠为保护剂 ，通过H_2还原可以有选择性地(约80%)合成由{100}晶面包裹的立方体形状的纳米 铂。     

A new study of the enzymatic hydrolysis of carboxymethyl cellulose with a bulk acoustic wave sensor

A new bulk acoustic wave (BAW) cellulase sensing technique, which is based on the enzymatic hydrolysis process of sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) by cellulase, was established. The frequency shift curves of BAW sensor indicated that the viscosity of the tested solutions decreased during the hydrolysis process. The hydrolysis rate of CMC by cellulase was calculated from the frequency shift curves. The hydrolysis rate of CMC under different pH conditions at 30°C showed that cellulase had high hydrolysis ability approximately at pH 5.0. Kinetic parameters (the Michaelis constant K_m and the maximum rate V_max) of the process were estimated by using a linear method of Lineweaver–Burk plot. K_m is 1.95±0.25 mg ml⁻¹ and V_max is −(4.25±0.58)×10⁻³ g^1/2 cm^−3/2 cP^1/2 min⁻¹. Also the activation energy (E_a) of the enzymatic hydrolysis, with a value of 51.99±1.26 kJ mol⁻¹, was estimated in this work.     

Catalysis of cationic surfactants in organic solvent: Hydrolysis of 2-nitro-4-carboxyphenyl acetate

The hydrolysis reaction of 2-nitro-4-carboxyphenyl acetate was studied in dichloromethane in the presence of an added electrolyte (NaOH) and cationic surfactants systems with varying quantities of added water at 25°C. The kinetic and conductivity data were correlated.     

The reactions of phenylacetylene with naphthalene complexes of europium and ytterbium. Molecular structure of [IYbC≡CPh(DME)2]2

Reactions of naphthaleneeuropium and naphthaleneytterbium, C₁₀H₈Ln(DME) (Ln = Eu or Yb), with phenylacetylene are accompanied by the formation of the C-C bond and yield the complexes of composition Ph₂C₄H₂Ln(DME)₂. Hydrolysis of the Ph₂C₄H₂Ln(DME)₂ complexes affords a mixture of isomers of 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene. Reactions of C₁₀H₈[LnI(DME)₂]₂ with PhCCH yield mixed iodine-ethynyl complexes [ILn(-CCPh)(DME)₂]₂. According to the data of X-ray diffraction analysis, the ytterbium complex consists of two YbI(DME)₂ units bonded through two bridging CCPh groups. The crystals of this complex belong to the space groupP2₁/c. The central cyclic Yb-C-Yb-C fragment is planar; the C(I)-Yb(I)-C(I) angle is 86.4(3)°. The Yb-C bond lengths are 2.584(8) and 2.603(9) Å.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 8, pp. 2101–2104, August, 1996.     

Reaction of 2,6-dibenzylidenecyclohexanone with phosphorus pentachloride: Triple functionalization of the isosemiquinoid system

The reaction of 2,6-dibenzylidenecyclohexanone with PCl₅ occursvia the sequential stages of desoxychlorination and substitutional phosphorylation to form (after oxidation, methoxylation, and hydrolysis on the surface of the chromatographic SiO₂ adsorbent) organophosphorus products of the 1-(a-chloro-, a-hydroxy-, or -alkoxy)benzyl-2-chloro-3-(-(dimethylphosphoryl)benzylidene)cyclobex-1-ene series.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 2, pp. 441–443, February, 1996.