Deconstruction of Nordic hardwood in switchable ionic liquids and acylation of the dissolved cellulose

“Nordic hardwood (Betula pendula) was fractionated in a batch autoclave equipped with a custom-made SpinChem® rotating bed reactor, at 120 °C using CO2 and CS2-based switchable ionic liquids systems. Analyses of the non-dissolved wood after treatment showed that 64 wt% of hemicelluloses and 70 wt% of lignin were removed from the native wood. Long processing periods or successive short-time treatments using fresh SILs further decreased the amount of hemicelluloses and lignin in the non-dissolved fraction to 12 and 15 wt%, respectively. The cellulose-rich fraction was partially dissolved in an organic superbase and an ionic liquid system for further derivatization. Homogeneous acylation of the dissolved cellulose in the presence or absence of catalyst resulted in cellulose acetates with variable degree of substitution (DS), depending on the treatment conditions. By varying the reaction conditions, the cellulose acetate with the desired DS could be obtained under mild conditions.”

Highlights:

• “Utilisation of theSpinChem® rotating bed reactor ensured the flow and distribution of SIL via forced circulation of fluid through the pits of the wood chips, improving the mass flux of the partitioned materials to the liquid bulk, leaving the residual wood partially fibrillated. The fast and uniform distribution of heat also influenced the dissolution kinetics due to the uniform temperature distribution in the reactor, thus leading to improved fractionation performance.”
• “It has been demonstrated that homogeneous cellulose derivatization is a promising method for cellulose ester synthesis affording various DS at mild conditions. By varying the reaction conditions partially substituted cellulose derivatives may be obtained.”