title: Recalcitrance and structural analysis by water-only flowthrough pretreatment of (13)C enriched corn stover stem.
abstract: This study presents high temperature water-only continuous flowthrough pretreatment coupled with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) as a promising analytical tool to examine the plant cell wall, to understand its recalcitrance (i.e., cell wall resistance to deconstruction), and to probe the chemistry occurring during batch pretreatment of biomass. (13)C-enriched corn stover stems were pretreated at 170°C for 60min with a hot-water flow rate of 20mL/min to control fractionation of the cell wall. This approach helped elucidate the nature of plant cell wall chemical recalcitrance and biomass pretreatment chemistry by tracking cell wall fragmentation as a function of time. Fractions of the reactor effluent were collected in a time-resolved fashion and characterized by various NMR techniques to determine the degree and sequence of fragments released, as well as, the chemical composition, molecular structure, and relative molecular weight of those released fragments.
authors: Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering, Washington University, 1 Brookings Drive, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA; BioEnergy Science Center, Division Biological Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA. Electronic address: mfoston@wustl.edu.
authors: Marcus
authors: M
authors: Foston
authors: Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of British Columbia, 3620 East Mall, Vancouver V6T 1Z3, Canada; BioEnergy Science Center, Division Biological Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.
authors: Heather L
authors: HL
authors: Trajano
authors: Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Institute of Paper Science and Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA; BioEnergy Science Center, Division Biological Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.
authors: Reichel
authors: R
authors: Samuel
authors: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Bourns College of Engineering, University of California, Riverside, 1084 Columbia Avenue, Riverside, CA 92507, USA; BioEnergy Science Center, Division Biological Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.
authors: Charles E
authors: CE
authors: Wyman
authors: Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering, Washington University, 1 Brookings Drive, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA.
authors: Jian
authors: J
authors: He
authors: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee, 5 323-B Dougherty Engineering Bldg., Knoxville, TN 3796, USA; Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Institute of Paper Science and Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA; BioEnergy Science Center, Division Biological Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.
authors: Arthur J
authors: AJ
authors: Ragauskas
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000737:chemistry*; D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water; D003313:Zea mays / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D014867:Water; D002482:Cellulose
keywords: Corn stover; Hot-water flowthrough pretreatment; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Recalcitrance