Chapter 14 - Polyalkylglycosides: sustainable production of nonionic biosurfactants from lignocellulosic biomass

Abstract

With the accelerated exploitation of fossil fuel reservoirs, researchers have taken great efforts to produce sustainable chemicals from alternative renewable sources such as carbon-rich lignocellulosic biomass. In connection with this, alkyl glycosides are found to be biodegradable surfactants and could be derived from holocellulose-based biomass as an emerging way of biomass upgradation. The main focus of this chapter is to discuss the use of various catalytic strategies (e.g., heteropoly acids, H2SO4, and Amberlyst 15) employed for the production of polyalkylglycosides from biomass-derived cellulose and hemicellulose in alcohol and water as solvents. Especially, the synthesis of octyl, decyl glucosides from cellulose via a one-pot one-step or one-pot two-step in the presence of a catalyst is discussed. The advantages and disadvantages of various catalytic processes on the production of alkyl glycosides from cellulose are also described. The reaction pathway for the formation of alkyl glycosides (octyl glucoside and decyl glucoside) from cellulose via hydrolysis followed by glycosidation in the presence of an acid catalyst in respective alcohol is also described. The problems associated with the nonionic biosurfactants production from C6 sugars/cellulose and catalyst deactivation are also delineated to some extent to provide insights into how reaction conditions and the catalyst activity can be tuned wherever applicable. Finally, this chapter ends with conclusions and perspectives on how the process efficiency can be improved further.