Determination of partition coefficient for terpineol from Pinus taeda l extracts using centrifugal partition chromatography

Conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to fuels and chemicals usually requires a pretreatment step that releases a plethora of compounds, which are often inhibitory to the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose into monomeric sugars and fermentation into biobased chemicals. On the other hand, some of those compounds, such as furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural, also have industrial importance that could be advantageous for the conversion process if it is possible to extract those compounds. This current work looks at the possibility to extract terpineol, a monoterpene alcohol found in pine, from crude pretreated pine matrices using centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) techniques. Pine is an important lignocellulosic biomass species in the southeast United States. Arkansas alone has approximately eighteen million acres in timberland of which 29% is pine; 423.6 million cubic feet per year are harvested. CPC uses a solvent system, which consists of two liquid phases, to separate components. The partition coefficient, K, is ratio of the peak area of the top phase compared to the peak area of the bottom phase. The partition coefficient of terpineol was determined for three solvent systems: 1) hexane: acetonitrile (1:1, v/v); 2) hexane: ethanol: water (6:5:1, v/v/v); and 3) hexane: ethyl acetate: ethanol: water (1:1:1:1, v/v/v/v), and the values will be used to design the CPC solvent system.