title: Fractionation for further conversion: from raw corn stover to lactic acid.
abstract: Fractionation is considered to be one promising strategy to utilize raw biomass to its fullest and produce chemicals with high selectivity. Herein, ethanol/H2O (1/1, v/v) co-solvent with 0.050 M oxalic acid is used to simultaneously fractionate 88.0 wt% of hemicellulose and 89.2 wt% of lignin in corn stover, while cellulose is not obviously degraded. H2O dissolves hemicellulose, G unit and those with β-O-4 linkage of lignin; whereas ethanol extracts G and S units as well as the skeleton with β-5 and β-β linkages of lignin. Oxalic acid effectively catalyzes the hydrolysis of hemicellulose and breaks the intermolecular linkages between hemicellulose and lignin, therefore further promotes the release of lignin. The dissolved hemicelluloses derivatives are reprocessed to produce lactic acid obtaining a high yield of 79.6 wt% with 90% selectivity by the catalysis of MgO. The remained cellulose and recovered lignin can be used further as feedstock to produce chemicals.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Sichuan university, Chengdu, Sichuan 610064, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Sichuan university, Chengdu, Sichuan 610064, China.
authors.forename: Zhicheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Sichuan university, Chengdu, Sichuan 610064, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Sichuan university, Chengdu, Sichuan 610064, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Sichuan university, Chengdu, Sichuan 610064, China.
authors.forename: Jianmei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Sichuan university, Chengdu, Sichuan 610064, China.
authors.forename: Changwei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hu