New method for lignocellulosic biomass polysaccharides conversion in butanol, an efficient route for the production of butyl glycosides from wheat straw or poplar wood

Wheat straw and poplar wood are abundant biomass which are increasingly considered as a feedstock for the production of fuels, energy and chemicals. Based on our work on optimized concentrated acid saccharification of wheat straw polysaccharides, we developed a method for the conversion of cellulose and hemicelluloses of wheat straw and poplar wood in n-butanol. Hemicelluloses and cellulose have been efficiently converted into butyl-pentosides and butyl-glucosides respectively by a one-pot decrystallization-glycosylation procedure. This process differs from published results as it is highly productive and it does not use ionic liquids for cellulose solubilisation which renders the glycosides recovery complicated, or require the use of costly acid catalyst or drastic temperature and pressure conditions. The butyl-glycosides are obtained in high yields and can be used as raw materials for the production of long tailed glycosides that are molecules of market value in the fields of detergents and cosmetics. The recovery of the sulfuric acid has also been studied and a method is proposed displaying the economic potential of the overall method and opening a new avenue for the use of wheat straw and poplar wood polysaccharides as raw materials in the surfactant industry.