Cellulose Conversion Using Aqueous Pretreatment and Cellulose Enzyme Mimetic

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9727096 Ladisch This proposal addresses the processing of cellulose- containing wastes and residues into sugars which can be fermented into oxygenated chemicals and fuel additives. The proposed approach builds upon a recently confirmed pretreatment method in which cellulosic materials are pressure cooked in water to make them susceptible to enzyme hydrolysis. The proposed research will carry out exploratory research to screen, identify, and characterize biodegradable enzyme mimetic(s) for formation of glucose from cellulosic materials pretreated by aqueous pressure cooking. The research is directed toward identifying organic acid catalysts, particularly fatty or long chain acids which will adsorb on cellulose and hydrolyze the -glycosidic bonds to give glucose. The general goal of the research is to con tribute to the reduction in cost of converting a renewable material, cellulose, into fermentable sugars. Specific objectives are: 1. Rapid screening of a range of organic and fatty acids for their combined potential to adsorb onto cellulose, hydrolyze glycosidic bonds and pretreated cellulose, and give only minimal degradation of glucose 2. Selection of one or two of the organic acids, determination of their rate constants for cellulose hydrolysis as a function of acid (catalyst)concentrations and temperatures ranging from80 to 180C 3. Development of a hydrolysis model based on a mechanistic analysis of adsorption and rate phenomena for the purpose of bioreactor design, and calculating the cost of the catalyst. Preliminary experiments using pressure cooker pretreatment of cellulose have shown the potential of succinic acid as a hydrolysis catalyst. Succinic acid has the added property of being soluble in boiling water while precipitating from solution at room temperature. ***