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International audience; Two alternative routes of softwood catalytic oxidative fractionation to cellulose products and fine chemicals are assessed.We suggested to use the process of larch wood peroxide oxidation in the medium acetic acid – water at temperatures 70–100 °C in the presence of soluble catalyst (NH4)6Mo7O24 to produce microcrystalline cellulose (35.0 wt% on wood), microfibrillated cellulose (7.5 wt% on wood) or nanocrystalline cellulose (3.7 wt% on wood) and low molecular weight organic compounds (20 wt% on wood). The developed process reduces the number of technological stages and increase an environmentally safety of nanocelluloses production from wood, compared to traditional technologies.Another suggested process of softwood (pine and larch) fractionation to vanillin (up to 4.7 wt% on wood) and cellulose (up to 34.6 wt% on wood) is based on wood oxidation by oxygen in water–alkaline medium at temperatures 160–180 °C in the presence of suspended catalyst Cu(OH)2. The further acid conversion of cellulose by 2 % H2SO4at 180 °C produces levulinic acid with the yield up to 9.7 wt % on wood.he integration of the processes of dihydroquercetin and arabinogalactan extraction isolation from larch wood, oxidation of extracted wood by oxygen to vanillin and cellulose in the presence of catalyst Cu(OH)2, acid catalyzed conversion of cellulose to levulinic acid and arabinogalactan hydrolysis over solid acid catalyst to arabinose and galactose leads to an increase in the number of target products.FTIR, XRD, SEM, AFM, solid state 13C CP/MAS and chemical methods were used for characterization of cellulose products. Organic compounds were identified by GC, HPLC and GC-MS methods.The two alternative schemes of larch wood catalytic oxidative biorefinery to produce nanocelluloses and fine chemicals have been developed.

A kinetic study and optimization of pine wood peroxide fractionation in the medium acetic acid–water over TiO2 catalyst were accomplished for the first time. Kinetic regularities and the product composition of green processes of catalytic peroxide fractionation of softwood (pine, abies, larch) and hardwood (aspen, birch) over 1 wt% TiO2 catalyst in the acetic acid–water medium were compared at the temperature range 70–100 °C. For all type of wood, the processes of peroxide delignification are described by the first order equations and their activation energies are varied at the range 76–94 kJ/mol. According to FTIR, XRD, SEM, NMR data, the cellulosic products of peroxide delignification have a structure similar to microcrystalline cellulose regardless of the nature of wood. Soluble products are presented by organic acid and monosaccharides. The scheme of green biorefinery of pine wood based on extractive-catalytic fractionation of wood biomass on microcrystalline cellulose, hemicelluloses, aromatic and aliphatic acids, monosaccharides, turpentine and rosin was developed. Green and non-toxic reagents and solid catalyst are used in the developed scheme of biorefinery.

It is established that the main regularities of the peroxide delignification of aspen wood in the temperature range of 70–100°С in the presence of dissolved (H2SO4) and solid (TiO2) catalysts are similar. With an increase of the temperature, the concentration of hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid, and the hydromodule (HM) values, as well as the duration of the process and the content of cellulose in the cellulose products, increase, while the content of the residual lignin decreases. Simultaneously, the total yield of cellulose products decreases independently of the nature of the catalyst. Delignification processes are satisfactory described by the first-order equation. A sufficiently high activation energy (88 kJ/mol in the presence of H2SO4 and 75 kJ/mol in the presence of TiO2) indicates the absence of significant external diffusion constraints in the selected conditions. The optimal conditions of obtaining cellulose products with a low content of residual lignin from aspen wood are found by the calculation methods. It is shown by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) that the structure of cellulose products obtained corresponds to the structure of industrial microcrystalline cellulose. In the optimal conditions, a high-quality cellulose product can be obtained in mild conditions (the temperature is 100°С, atmospheric pressure) by using a safer and technological TiO2 catalyst instead of a sulfuric acid catalyst.

Two ways of catalytic depolymerization of native and isolated wood lignins are described: the peroxide delignification of hardwood (aspen, birch) and softwood (abies) in the medium of acetic acid – water over TiO2 catalyst and the thermal dissolution of organosolv lignins (ethanol-lignin and acetone-lignin) in supercritical alcohols (ethanol and butanol) over solid Ni-containing catalysts. The catalyst TiO2 in rutile modification has the higher activity in wood peroxide delignification at 100 °C as compared to TiO2 in anatase modification. The results of kinetic studies and optimization of the processes of peroxide depolymerization of hardwood (aspen, birch) and softwood (abies) lignins in the medium of acetic acid – water over catalyst TiO2 (rutile) at mild conditions (≤100 °C, atmospheric pressure) are compared. The catalyst TiO2 initiates the formation of OH and OOH radicals from H2O2 which promote the oxidative fragmentation of wood lignin. In this case, the peroxide depolymerization of softwood lignin, constructed from phenylpropane units of guaiacyl-type proceeds more difficult than the hardwood lignins, mainly containing syringyl-type units. The solid and soluble products of peroxide catalytic delignification of wood under the optimized conditions were studied by FTIR, XRD, GC–MS and chemical methods. Regardless of the nature of wood the cellulosic products have a structure similar to microcrystalline cellulose. The soluble products mainly consist of monosaccharides and organic acids. Aromatic compounds are present only in a low amount which indicates the oxidative degradation of aromatic rings of lignin phenylpropane units under the used conditions of wood catalytic delignification. The processes of thermal dissolution of acetone-lignin and ethanol-lignin from aspen-wood in supercritical ethanol and butanol over Ni-containing catalyst (NiCu/SiO2, NiCuMo/SiO2) are compared. The composition, structure and thermal properties of organosolv lignins were studied with the use of FTIR, GPC, 1H – 13C HSQC NMR, DTA and elemental analysis. The influence of a composition of Ni-containing catalyst on the thermal conversion in supercritical butanol and ethanol of ethanol-lignin and acetone-lignin was established. The highest conversion of lignins (to 93% wt.) in supercritical alcohols and the highest yield of liquid products (to 90% wt.) were achieved at 300 °C in the presence of catalyst NiCuMo/SiO2. Scheme of green biorefinery of wood based on the use of non-toxic and low-toxic reagents (H2O2, H2O, acetic acid, ethanol, butanol) and solid catalysts (TiO2, NiCuMo/SiO2) is suggested.

The conventional way of producing microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) from wood raw materials is multistage; it is based on integrating the environmentally hazardous processes of pulping and bleaching of cellulose and the acid hydrolysis of the amorphous phase of cellulose. This work describes an improved single-stage catalytic method for the production of MCC from softwood and hardwood that is based on the peroxide delignification of wood in an acetic acid–water medium under mild conditions (100°C, atmospheric pressure) in the presence of an environmentally safe TiO2 solid catalyst. The processes of MCC production via the peroxide catalytic delignification of various wood species are optimized experimentally and mathematically. The following optimum modes for the production of MCC with a yield of 36.3–42.0 wt % of absolutely dry wood, a residual lignin content of ≤1.0 wt %, and a hemicellulose content of ≤ 6.0 wt % are determined: For aspen: 5 wt % H2O2, 25 wt % CH3COOH, and a liquid/wood ratio of 10. For birch: 5 wt % H2O2, 25 wt % CH3COOH, and a liquid/wood ratio of 15. For silver fir: 6 wt % H2O2, 30 wt % CH3COOH, and a liquid/wood ratio of 15. For larch: 6 wt % H2O2, 30 wt % CH3COOH, and a liquid/wood ratio of 15.

The first green biorefinery of larch wood based on the fractionation of biomass into dihydroquercetin (DHQ), arabinogalactan (AG), microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and soluble lignin (SL) is reported. The new green method of one-step isolation of DHQ and AG from larch wood by ethanol–water solution was developed. The first results of kinetic studies and optimization of the process of extracted larch wood peroxide fractionation into MCC and SL in acetic acid–water medium in the presence of green TiO2 catalyst are described. The products obtained from larch wood were characterized by FTIR, NMR, XRD, AFM and chemical methods. The scheme of larch wood biorefinery is suggested which integrates the developed processes of woody biomass fractionation into DHQ, AG, MCC and SL. All developed methods use non-toxic and less-toxic reagents, such as water, ethanol, hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid.

SSCI-VIDE+CDFA+LDJ:CPI; International audience; The kinetic study of abies wood delignification by H2O2 in the medium acetic acid-water was first carried out in the presence of TiO2 catalyst under mild conditions: temperatures 70-100 degrees C, atmospheric pressure. The oxidative delignification process is described satisfactory by the first order equation in all temperature range. The rate constants varied between 0.80 and 12.3 9 10(-3) min(-1) and the activation energy was near 81 +/- 0.21 kJ mol(-1). The optimal parameters of the delignification process, providing the effective fractionation of abies wood on microcrystalline cellulose and soluble lignin, were established by experimental and numerical methods.