Tuesday, April 20, 2010
8-22

Development of an improved analytical system to characterize DP distribution of oligosaccharides produced by biomass pretreatment

Hongjia Li, Qing Qing, and Charles E. Wyman. Center for Environmental Research and Technology, University of California, Riverside, 1084 Columbia Ave., Riverside, CA 92507

             Detailed characterization of the release and fate of oligosaccharides during lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment is vital to understand mechanisms of sugar removal and to feedback to the kinetics of pretreatment and plant structure. A chromatographic technique known as HPAE-PAD (high performance anion exchange- pulsed amperometric detection) was developed to identify xylooligomers with degrees of polymerization (DP) up to 30. However, due to the lack of quantification standards, low solubilities of high DP oligomers, and potential precipitation after sample collection, significant challenges remain in identification and quantification of different DP oligosaccharides in the pretreatment liquid. In this study, Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and high performance anion exchange chromatography (HPAEC) were used to separate hemicellulose oligosaccharides released during pretreatment of switchgrass into fractions corresponding to their DP.  Then, a TOC (total organic carbon) Analyzer and other sugar quantification methods were applied to analyze concentrations of oligosaccharides in these fractions. A series of response coefficients were developed for each DP fraction by comparison to a monomeric sugar standard based on chromatography response and actual quantified concentration. These coefficients were then used to quantify each DP oligosaccharide precisely and provide new insight into the fractions released during biomass deconstruction.

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