The lignol approach to biorefining of woody biomass to produce ethanol and chemicals

Processes that produce only ethanol from lignocellulosics display poor economics. This is generally overcome by constructing large facilities having satisfactory economies of scale, thus making financing onerous and hindering the development of suitable technologies. Lignol Innovations has developed a biorefining technology that employs an ethanol-based organosolv step to separate lignin, hemicellulose components, and extractives from the cellulosic fraction of woody biomass. The resultant cellulosic fraction is highly susceptible to enzymatic hydrolysis, generating very high yields of glucose (>90% in 12–24h) with typical enzyme loadings of 10–20 FPU (filter paper units)/g. This glucose is readily converted to ethanol, or possibly other sugar platform chemicals, either by sequential or simultaneous saccharification and fermentation. The liquor from the organosolv step is processed by well-established unit operations to recover lignin, furfural, xylose, acetic acid, and a lipophylic extractives fraction. The process ethanol is recovered and recycled back to the process. The resulting recycled process water is of a very high quality, low BOD₅, and suitable for overall system process closure. Significant benefits can be attained in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions, as per the Kyoto Protocol. Revenues from the multiple products, particularly the lignin, ethanol and xylose fractions, ensure excellent economics for the process even in plants as small as 100 mtpd (metric tonnes per day) dry woody biomass input—a scale suitable for processing wood residues produced by a single large sawmill.     

Recyclable,non-leaching antimicrobial magnetic nanoparticles

Recyclable antimicrobial magnetic nanoparticles, Fe₃O₄@P(St-co-AcQAC), were prepared through surfactantfree seeded emulsion polymerization involving a polymerizable, hydrophobic quaternary ammonium compound (QAC). These antimicrobial magnetic nanoparticles demonstrated excellent antimicrobial activities against both Grampositive and Gram-negative bacteria, and can be reused for multiple times.     

Freezing temperatures and densities of solutions of some hydrocarbons and sodium oleate inN-methylacetamide. Evidence for a solvophobic interaction

The freezing temperatures and densities (at 31°C) of solutions of octane, nonane, decane, 3,3-diethylpentane, and sodium oleate inN-methylacetamide (NMA) have been measured. The molality of the freezing solution was calculated from the density. The solubilities of octane, nonane, and decane inN-methylacetamide are also reported. Apparent molal volumes calculated from the densities are close to the values in the pure hydrocarbons and are not strong functions of the concentration. This indicates the absence of any unusual packing effect. The calculated free energies of transfer of the hydrocarbons from pure hydrocarbon to NMA solution are much less negative than the corresponding values for water, showing that the bulk solvophobic interaction inN-methylacetamide is smaller than in water. This is consistent with the freezing temperatures of sodium oleate which show that micelles do not form below 0.1 mole-kg^–1. The osmotic coefficients of the hydrocarbons calculated from the freezing temperatures showed negative deviations from ideality that were larger for the hydrocarbons with the higher molecular weights. Two estimates of the pairwise solvophobic interaction inN-methylacetamide indicate that it is also smaller than in water. The solvophobic effect in this solvent does not include the large entropy and enthalpy effects found in aqueous solutions.     

Hydrogencarbonat-Bestimmung im Wasser in Anwesenheit von Anionen anderer schwacher S?uren

Zusammenfassung Die maßanalytische HCO₃ ^–-Bestimmung im Wasser kann bei gleichzeitig vorhandenen Anionen anderer schwacher Säuren, insbesondere in Wässern mit erheblicher Belastung an polaren organischen Stoffen, zu stark erhöhten HCO₃ ^–-Werten und damit zu einer Fehlbeurteilung des untersuchten Wassers führen. Es wurde daher ein Verfahren ausgearbeitet, das den wahren HCO₃ ^–-Gehalt mit einem Fehler von höchstens –5% ermittelt. Hierbei wird das Gesamtkohlendioxid gravimetrisch, das freie Kohlendioxid volumetrisch bestimmt und HCO₃ ^– aus der Differenz berechnet.

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Determination of bicarbonate in water in presence of anions of other weak acids

The contemporary presence of anions of other weak acids is able to simulate a much elevated content by the volumetric determination of bicarbonate, especially in waters with a considerable loading of organic matters. A process was elaborated, which finds out the real content of bicarbonate with an error of —5% at most, consisting in the gravimetric determination of total carbon dioxide and the volumetric determination of free carbon dioxide. HCO₃ ^– is calculated from the difference.

     

The potential use of continuous-flow isotope-ratio mass spectrometry as a tool in forensic soil analysis: a preliminary report

The use of continuous-flow isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (CF-IRMS) as a tool in soil analysis has been assessed as part of a larger study using a number of geological techniques applied in a forensic context. Carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios, delta13C and delta15N, have been analysed to investigate situations which have arisen from crime casework. Three questions have been addressed: the role of spatial variation found over the short-scale (less than 20 m), temporal variation over a period of almost 2 years, and the variation found between source soils and soil transferred to footwear soles during a simple one-stage transfer process. Results are presented for the three experiments. The use of carbon and nitrogen isotopes has been shown to be useful in discriminating between soil types and sample locations, even when sampling occurs at a different time (as might be the case with a crime scene). In cases of primary transfer (from a source soil by a one-stage transfer to another surface, in this case, shoes and boots), the combination of carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios is a valuable tool in discriminating between sites and in showing the relationship of the transferred samples to the relevant source soils. Used in combination with other analytical techniques, isotopic analysis may prove to be a useful tool in a forensic context.     

Preparation of 3-azetidinols with non-bulky 1-alkyl substituents

Cyclization of either the tetrahydropyranyl or trimethylsilyl ether of 1-(alkylamino)-3-chloro-2-propanols 1 followed by cleavage of the azetidinyl ether provides a general method for the preparation of 1-alkyl-3-azetidinols. Unhindered amines provide a more facile preparation of derivatives of 1 , or its ethers, than do hindered amines, while hindered derivatives of 1 undergo more facile ring closure.     

Concise and enantioselective synthesis of the aminocyclitol core of hygromycin A

[reaction: see text] Stereoselective aminohydroxylation and dihydroxylation using osmium(VIII) oxidants enabled the short and efficient synthesis of the aminocyclitol core of hygromycin A. In addition to allowing the selective introduction of the heteroatoms N and O, the use of osmium (via an osmate ester) as a protecting group for a 1,2-glycol is also reported. This tactic allowed efficient differentiation of otherwise equivalent hydroxyl groups and allowed us to complete the synthesis in short order (14 steps) and excellent overall yield (12%).     

Freezing points,osmotic coefficients,and activity coefficients of some salts in ethylene carbonate: A high dielectric constant solvent without hydrogen bonding

The freezing points, conductivities, and densities of NaI, KI, CsI, Bu₄NCl, Bu₄NBr, Bu₄NI, Et₄NBr, and Pr₄NBr (where Et = ethyl, Pr = propyl, and Bu =n-butyl) in ethylene carbonate have been measured. Osmotic and activity coefficients were calculated from the results. All of the salts studied are strong electrolytes. The trends in the osmotic coefficients of the alkali metal iodides are NaI>KI>CsI, showing that Na⁺ is more solvated by ethylene carbonate than Cs⁺. For the tetraalkylammonium halides, the order of osmotic coefficients are Et₄NBrPr₄NBrBu₄NCl>Bu₄NBr>Bu₄NI. This is the same order as observed in two other high-dielectric-constant solvents, water andN-methylacetamide. The results indicate that the smaller anions are more solvated than the larger anions in ethylene carbonate in contrast to the usual behavior of dipolar aprotic (basic) solvents, such as dimethyl sulfoxide.