Delignification Rate Research Articles

Improvement of saccharide yield from wood by simultaneous enzymatic delignification and saccharification using a ligninolytic enzyme and cellulase

White-rot fungi are thought to hold promise for development of a delignification pretreatment process for wood biorefinery that is less energy-consuming than current processes. However, the reaction must take place over weeks and consumes non-neglectable amounts of saccharides. To establish a biological process for wood biorefinery would first require establishment of an enzymatic approach to delignification. Such an approach has the potential to lower costs and reduce saccharide loss. Here, we attempted enzymatic delignification reactions using manganese peroxidases (MnP), a lignin-degrading enzyme, under several reaction conditions. The delignification rate from beech wood meal (particle size <45μm) of up to 11.0% in 48h was reached in a MnP reaction supplemented with multiple co-oxidants, glucose, glucose oxidase (GOD) and commercial cellulase. An additional 48-h reaction using fresh MnP/co-oxidants increased the delignification rate to 14.2%. Simultaneous enzymatic delignification and saccharification, which occurs without a need for glucose supplementation, successfully improved the glucose yield to 160% of the reaction without MnP. Development of a more accurate imitation of the mechanisms of delignification that occurs in white-rot fungi has the potential to improve the monosaccharide yield resulting from simultaneous delignification and saccharification.

Limitations on the protective action of MgSO4 for cellulose during kraft pulp oxygen delignification

Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) is the most widely used protector for alleviating the effects that metal ions have on cellulose degradation. However, the efficiency of MgSO4 is limited by the oxygen delignification conditions. This work discusses the factors influencing MgSO4 efficiency in terms of cellulose protection and delignification. The type and concentration of metal ions, delignification rate, additions order, and mixing degree of MgSO4 should affect the cellulose degradation during oxygen delignification in the presence of MgSO4. The most adverse effects on cellulose are observed with Mn2+ and Fe2+ ions followed by Cu2+ and Fe3+. MgSO4 addition can diminish such negative effects; however the protection becomes reduced in the presence of higher concentrations of metal ions. In addition, the optimum MgSO4 application level is closely dependent on the delignification rate and metal ions concentration. Adding MgSO4 is optional for pulps with trace metal ions at relatively low delignification levels, but it is essential for pulps with concentrated metal ions or when the oxygen delignification rate is relatively high. More simply, when the added MgSO4 is thoroughly mixed with the pulp before the addition of NaOH, it exhibits a prominent effect on cellulose protection.

Effect of Steam and Bleaching Treatment on the Characteristics of Pineapple Leaves Fibre Derived Cellulose

Pineapple leaf fibres (PALF) is one of the abundant residues generated from pineapple plantation. The residues are left on the plantation for nutrient cycling or burning, and this circumstance leads to environmental issues. PALF has high cellulose content among other natural fibres. Cellulose is a reinforcing element that exists as whisker-like microfibrils and has a long-chain structure. In this study, cellulose produced from PALF was treated by steam and chemical treatment. The fibre was treated with steam at 121°C, a pressure of 21 psi for 30 or 60 min. Next, the steam-treated fibre was treated with 5 wt% sodium chlorite (NaClO2) solution with pH adjusted between 4 and 5 for 90 min. The condition was varied with three different temperatures, which were room temperature, 50, and 70°C. Then, the bleached fibre was treated with 5 wt% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) at room temperature for 3 h. After the treatments, the fibre was analysed for its thermal stability, morphology, and chemical composition. Cellulose obtained from the treatment condition of steam for 60 min, bleaching at 70°C, and alkali treatment at room temperature expressed the highest degradation temperature of 276°C at 20% weight loss, percentage of cellulose of 86% and lowest moisture content (8%) compared to others sample. It also had an excellent surface morphology with finest fibril disintegration. It showed longer steam treatment (60 min) degrading more hemicellulose; and bleaching treatment at high temperature (70°C), increasing the rate of oxidative delignification. In conclusion, the suggested treatment provides a simple but efficient method to isolate cellulose that can be used for various types of applications.

Production and characterization of lignocellulosic fractions from sisal waste

An integrated fractionation process, UV-catalyzed hydrogen peroxide pretreatment (UHP) with subsequent alkali and acidic ethanol extraction, was developed to consecutively recover cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and pretreated liquid fractions from sisal waste. These fractions serve as a viable source of high-value industrial chemicals. Delignification rate reached approximately 80 % under the UHP pretreatment with 0.1 mL/g H2O2 for 6 h. The pretreated sisal waste was further fractionated into four parts, cellulose (35.5 g/100 g sisal waste), xylan-rich hemicellulose (12.5 g/100 g sisal waste), acid-insoluble lignin (5.7 g/100 g sisal waste) and the liquid fraction (21.0 g/100 g sisal waste). The cellulose fraction was in high purity with increased crystalline index of 51.4 %, and the hemicellulose fraction was rich in xylan. The lignin fraction had the GSH-type structure with some ferulic acid residues bound mainly via β-O-4 linkages. The liquid fraction had a high content of phenolic compounds (16.26∼41.88 mg GAE/L) with strong antioxidant activities, 11.16∼18.48 μmol TE/L reducing power, 66.78∼82.84 μmol TE/L hydroxyl radical scavenging and 14.83∼46.67 μmol TE/L ABTS radical scavenging.

Deep Delignification of Woody Biomass by Repeated Mild Alkaline Treatments with Pressurized O2.

Delignification is essential in effective utilization of carbohydrates of lignocellulosic biomass. Characteristics of the delignification are important for the yield and property of the resulting carbohydrates. Oxidation with O2 of biomass in alkaline water can potentially produce high-purity cellulose at high yield. The present authors chose a Japanese cedar and investigated its oxidative delignification at 90 °C. The delignification selectivity was determined mainly by the chemical structures of lignin and cellulose. Treatment conditions, except for temperature, hardly changed the relationship between delignification rate and cellulose retention. During the treatment, dissolved lignin underwent chemical condensation in the aqueous phase. This “unfavorable” condensation consumed O2-derived active species, slowing down further delignification. Repeated short-time oxidation with renewal of alkaline water suppressed the condensation, enhancing the delignification. Repetition of 2-h treatments four times achieved 96% delignification, which was 8% higher than a single 8-h treatment at 130 °C.

Response surface methodology (RSM) for optimization of thermochemical pretreatment method and enzymatic hydrolysis of deodar sawdust (DS) for bioethanol production using separate hydrolysis and co-fermentation (SHCF)

In the present work, Cedrus deodara (deodar) sawdust abbreviated as DS was subjected to thermochemical pretreatment followed by enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation for bioethanol production. Response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite design (CCD) tool was employed to optimize dilute acid pretreatment method (at 121 °C temperature and 1-bar pressure) and enzymatic hydrolysis processes. Factorial design of experiments used chemical concentration, incubation time, and biomass loading to optimize thermochemical pretreatment method using dilute acid concentration. Maximum total reducing sugar (TRS) concentration (13.62 g/L) was obtained using optimized conditions (1.5% HCl concentration, 10% biomass loading and 30-min incubation time). These significant studies were subjected to optimize enzymatic hydrolysis process using the CCD tool of the RSM where cellulase loading, xylanase loading, pH, and temperature were taken into consideration. TRS concentration obtained was 29.20 g/L after 48 h with enzyme loading of 9 U/g biomass, each for cellulase and xylanase enzyme at pH 5.0 and 30 °C temperature. Fermentation conditions for enzymatically hydrolyzed DS revealed that at 10% (v/v) yeast inoculum concentrations (Saccharomyces cerevisiae (MTCC-36) and Pichia stipitis (NCIM-3498)) after 24-h fermentation time and pH 5.0, bioethanol concentration was 14.25 g/L with 95.68% conversion efficiency. Characterization studies for native and pretreated DS by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses revealed delignification rate of 30.93% of DS biomass under optimized thermochemical pretreatment conditions. Statistical studies for optimization of pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis for bioethanol production stated DS sawdust (a furniture industry waste) as a potential substrate for biofuel production.

Rapid Preparation of Cellulose Nanofibers from Energy Cane Bagasse and Their Application as Stabilizer and Rheological Modifiers in Magnetorheological Fluid

Magnetorheological fluids (MRFs) are smart fluids made of magnetic particles in a viscous carrier fluid, and their rheological properties are controllable by an external magnetic field. However, MRFs suffer from serious sedimentation and redispersibility problems, which limit their effectiveness and feasibility in a wide variety of applications. Herein, we present a novel strategy to improve magnetorheological property and stability of MRFs using cellulose nanofibers (CNFs), rapidly prepared from energy cane bagasse using microwave-assisted alkali-H2O2 and ultrasonic treatment. High delignification rate of 94.3% was achieved by the microwave treatment for 15 min. Chemical structure analysis revealed that the removal of lignin and carboxylation of cellulose occurred simultaneously. The obtained CNFs exhibited a highly entangled network structure, and their suspension showed the gel-like viscoelastic behavior. In CNF-MRF, the magnetic particles were entrapped and suspended by the entangled network of CNFs, which is due to the physical entanglement and the electrostatic repulsion force between Fe3O4 and CNFs. CNFs helped suspend magnetic particles in CNF-MRFs, leading to improved stability and magnetorheological properties (i.e., viscosity stability after cycling, reversible rate of 95.57% after 100 cycles). This work demonstrates a new path for the production of CNFs from energy cane bagasse wastes and their value-added utilization in MRFs.

Modeling of optimal green liquor pretreatment for enhanced biomass saccharification and delignification by distinct alteration of wall polymer features and biomass porosity in Miscanthus

Abstract Miscanthus is a leading bioenergy crop with enormous biomass resource convertible into bioethanol and biochemicals. However, lignocellulose recalcitrance basically causes costly bioethanol production with potential secondary pollution to the environment. In this study, the green liquor (mixed sodium carbonate and sodium sulfide) pretreatments were optimized using response surface methodological modeling for enhancing biomass saccharification and delignification in Miscanthus. By comparison, the optimal saccharification approach led to relatively higher hexose yield of 87% (% cellulose) for bioethanol yield of 17.1% (% dry matter) with the sugar-ethanol conversion rate at 98%, whereas the optimal delignification approach could achieve the highest delignification rate at 93% potential for lignin-derived biofuel or value-added biochemicals. Notably, those two optimized pretreatments could distinctively extract hemicellulose-lignin complex and altered wall polymer features, leading to much increased cellulose accessibility for efficient biomass enzymatic hydrolysis. Exceptionally, the optimal delignification led to decreased biomass porosity accountable for relatively lower hexose yield, suggesting that its cellulose microfibrils may be aggregated from excessive non-cellulosic polymers extraction. Hence, this study has demonstrated two optional strategies for green-like and cost-effective biofuels and biochemical production in Miscanthus and other bioenergy crops.

The Effects of Mild Alkaline Pretreatment on the Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Eucalyptus pellita Wood

In this study, a dilute alkaline pretreatment (sodium carbonate and calcium hydroxide mixture) was evaluated for saccharification of extruded Eucalyptus wood. The hydroxide ions produced by the alkaline combination is remarkably more effective than using the alkaline compounds individually. Three critical factors for the simultaneous pretreatment and saccharification process, such as the pretreatment time, temperature, and molar concentration of Na₂CO₃:Ca(OH)₂, were optimized to maximize bio sugar yield. The results show that although the lignin amount of hardwoods (i.e., Eucalyptus ) is high (34.8%), but it is possible to overcome the recalcitrant of wood and improve glucose yields by employing this combined pretreatment (mechanical and chemical). The results also show that the glucose conversion by the enzyme was improved by approximately 14% for every 10% increase in delignification rate. However, simultaneously, the yield of glucose was reduced by approximately 7% during every 10% increase in delignification rate during alkaline pretreatment. This study indicated that mild sodium carbonate and calcium hydroxide pretreatment effectively reduced biomass recalcitrance and subsequently improved the digestibility of lignocellulosic biomass.

Nonconventional Ca(OH)2 Treatment of Bamboo for the Reinforcement of Cement Composites.

This study compares the structural and morphological changes in Guadua angustifolia Kunth (GAK) fiber prepared in three different ways (chips, barkless and crushed) when non-conventional alkaline treatment is applied. Moreover, it shows the improvement of mechanical properties of cement composites reinforced with these treated fibers. The three different preparations of Guadua were treated with a saturated solution of calcium hydroxide (5%) at 125 °C and 1.25 kPa for 3 h to remove non-cellulosic compounds. Then, their chemical, morphological, and structural properties were examined. The fibers exhibiting the higher delignification rate were selected to prepare cement composite boards, whose mechanical properties were successively compared with those of composites reinforced with untreated G. angustifolia fibers. The water/cement ratios of the cement mixed with the Ca(OH)2-treated and the untreated fibers were, respectively, around 0.3 and 0.25. The flexural strength and toughness of the two composites were evaluated after 7, 28, and 90 days of curing. The calcium hydroxide treatment showed higher efficiency in removing non-cellulosic materials when performed on crushed bamboo; moreover, the mechanical properties of the composites reinforced with the treated fibers were higher than those mixed with the untreated ones. After 90 days of curing, the flexural strength increased by around 40% and the toughness became three times higher (p < 0.05). The mechanical improvement by the Ca(OH)2 treatment of G. angustifolia fibers demonstrates its potential for the fabrication of cement composites.

Multivariate analysis of the process of deep eutectic solvent pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass

In this study, multivariate analysis methods were used to reveal inner-relationship among key variables of deep eutectic solvents (DES) pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least square (PLS) were performed to analyze the effects of characterization of biomass material, physicochemical properties of DES and pretreatment conditions on the efficiency of pretreatment in the choline chloride based DES pretreatment. The results revealed that temperature and severity of the reaction were the most important process parameters of the pretreatment. The physical and chemical parameters of DES related to hydrogen bonds were beneficial to get better delignification rate and recovery rate of glucan. This paper provided novel perspective for further understanding of DES pretreatment, designing DES, and optimizing process control of DES pretreatment.

Kinetic Analysis of Pulping of Rice Straw with p-Toluene Sulfonic Acid.

The kinetics of pulping of rice straw was studied with p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TsOH). Pulping with 50% p-TsOH aqueous solution was performed at 70–100 °C for 0–360 min. The results showed that the delignification reaction could be divided into two phases: the bulk delignification phase and the supplementary delignification phase. Lignin dissolution was the main process in the bulk delignification stage, accompanied by the degradation of a small amount of carbohydrates. In the supplementary delignification stage, the delignification rate was low and carbohydrate degradation was severe. The degradation of carbohydrates is mainly based on the dissolution of hemicellulose. A combined delignification factor (CDF) and a combined hydrolysis factor (CHF) were used to compare severity-based kinetic analyses. The results showed that the degradation process for lignin and hemicellulose can be well-fitted using CDF and CHF models. The fitted results show that the activation energy of the hemicellulose loss reaction and delignification reaction was 68.21 and 46.05 kJ/mol, respectively. Therefore, the use of p-TsOH for pulping is a technology with very broad application prospects.

Hydrothermal treatment and organosolv pulping of softwood assisted by carbon dioxide

A profitability requirement for biorefineries is the integral use of raw materials through efficient and optimized fractionation processes. Supercritical carbon dioxide has been stated as a promising green solvent which advantages have been previously suggested in the literature. This work evaluates the effect of subcritical and supercritical CO2 in both the hydrothermal treatment and the organosolv delignification, either as individual stages or as sequential processes, using pine sawdust, chips, and milled chips as raw materials. Both, the hydrothermal and the organosolv trials were first performed according to simple factorial designs, followed by a set of extra experiments for further understanding of the pine behavior. Carbohydrates content in the hydrothermal liquors and structural carbohydrates and lignin in the final pulps were analyzed. The yield (percentage of final biomass over original biomass) of the hydrothermal trials ranged from 76.2%–99.2%. CO2 effect on yield and hemicelluloses removal is more noticeable at shorter periods and low (120 °C) and mild temperatures (160 °C), and it weakens as reaction time and temperature increase. The delignification rate during organosolv pulping ranged between 10.3 % and 70.1 %. For industrial sawdust, the presence of CO2 during organosolv pulping significantly decreased delignification. The effect of hemicelluloses removal before organosolv pulping varies depending on the raw material, but in general, has a deleterious effect on delignification of pulps.

Concentration of Alkaline Hydrogen Peroxide (AHP) Affects the Recycle of the Liquid Fraction in the Pre-treatment and Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Corn Stover

Pre-treatment is one of main economic and technological challenges to render feasible the production of biofuels and chemical compounds from lignocellulosic biomass. Alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP) is the most used pre-treatment and recycling of its liquid fraction can help reduce production costs. The effects of four AHP concentrations (1, 3.5, 5 and 7.5% v/v) on the recycling performance of the liquid fraction of pre-treated corn stover was evaluated for five consecutive cycles. Delignification rates increased with increasing AHP concentrations in the first cycle: 15, 26, 43 and 76% with 1, 3.5, 5 and 7.5% v/v H2O2, respectively. In the following cycles, the rates decreased linearly reaching less than 40% in the last two recycles. These delignification rates and hemicellulose solubilization were corroborated by spectroscopic analyses with Fourier transformation showing reductions in lignin and hemicellulose absorbance and increases in crystallinity indices. Considering the low delignification rates in the last two cycles, the pre-treated biomasses obtained until the third cycle were submitted to enzymatic hydrolysis at 1:10 solid–liquid ratio. The delignification rates affected the efficiency of the enzymatic hydrolysis at all AHP concentrations and all recycles. The highest AHP concentration (7.5% v/v) was required to efficiently remove lignin and solubilize hemicellulose, maintaining cellulose conversion into glucose greater than 50% up to three recycles. Therefore, the technology of recycling the liquid solution of AHP pre-treatment is recommended with high initial concentrations (7.5% v/v).

Effects of Liquid Hot Water Combined with 1, 4-Butanediol on Chemical Composition and Structure of Moso Bamboo.

The effects of liquid hot water combined with 1, 4-butanediol (LHW-BDO) on the chemical composition and structure of moso bamboo were investigated. The structure changes of moso bamboo fibers were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and electronic scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the delignification rates of 1, 4-butanediol (BDO) and LHW-BDO pretreatment methods were at the same level (91.42-93.08%). However, compared with BDO pretreatment, the cellulose content in solid residue after LHW-BDO pretreatment was increased by 17.06% with a recovery rate of 75.68%, while the hemicellulose removal rate increased by 115.33% and reached 50.34%. After LHW-BDO pretreatment, the intramolecular hydrogen bonds, intermolecular hydrogen bonds, methylene bonds, and aromatic ether bonds of the fibers were broken, which contributed to the depolymerization and separation of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin molecules. However, LHW-BDO pretreatment does not destroy the β-glycoside bond which links the glucose molecule inside the fiber molecule, which was also beneficial to the separation of cellulose. In addition, the amorphous zone of bamboo fibers was destroyed by the above treatments, and the fiber structure of bamboo samples mostly exists in crystalline form. The crystallinity of bamboo pretreated with LHW-BDO was increased by 32.15%. It can be found by scanning electron microscopy that the surface of the pretreated bamboo samples showed uniformly distributed bubbly protuberance.

Structural characterization of the bagasse lignin pretreated using solid alkali

Abstract The pretreatment using solid alkali had a high delignification rate and could improve the followed conversion efficiency of the biomass. In the present work, the bagasse lignin was separated and pretreated using a solid alkali to discuss their structural changes. The results showed that the main basic structures S/S′/S′′, G/G′, and H had different reactivity, where only the H unit was a stable structure in the pretreatment. The phenolic structure of the lignin was easily degraded in the pretreatment, and the lignin without phenolic structure was difficult to be degraded. The P structure was a novel structure that generated in the pretreatment. Some monomeric aromatic compounds simulated lignin monomer were also pretreated by solid alkali, the result showed that the phenol structure with side chain on para-position, as well as the carboxyl group, eater linkage, and double bond on the side chain are easily reacted in the pretreatment.

Effect of particle size and mixing on the laccase-mediated pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass for enhanced saccharification of cellulose

In the process of conversion of biomass into biofuels, pretreatment is severely required to maximize the utility of carbohydrates present in the biomass. In this investigation, experiments were conducted to enhance the efficiency of degradation of lignin present in Bambusa bamboos by utilizing laccase secreted from Pleurotus ostreatus. The effects of various parameters such as particle size and mixing have been studied in batch mode. Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass was performed by using 45–105 µm particle sizes of B. bamboo for 28 days of incubation. The mixing conditions were varied from no mixing (0 rpm) to high mixing (200 rpm). A highest delignification of 64.6% was obtained at higher mixing (200 rpm) conditions for 45 μm particle sizes of B. bamboo. Thus, higher mixing conditions and lower particle sizes were found to be better for achieving higher rates of delignification of B. bamboo. Since, reduction in particle size reduces the viscosity of the suspension; higher solid loadings can be handled in the bioconversion of biomass.

Use of Feruloyl Esterase as Laccase-Mediator System in Paper Bleaching.

In order to bleach the eucalyptus kraft pulp, two enzyme treatments involving feruloyl esterase and laccase were used in the TCF sequence. Hydroxycinnamic acids, which were released from lignin subunits by the activity of feruloyl esterase, were used as a natural mediator of laccase. The use of sequentially feruloyl esterase and laccase has much higher pulp bleaching effects than the individual enzymes. GthFAE, BmegLac and GthFAE+BmegLac treatments (X) reduced the kappa number of eucalyptus kraft pulps by indicating 9%, 18%, and 30% delignification rates, respectively. Just like in delignification rates, the highest brightness improvement was achieved from the GthFAE+BmegLac combination. The results of the present study indicated that the natural mediators, which are presented in the structure of lignin, could be used as laccase-mediators for pulp bleaching more efficiently and cost-effectively.

Improving enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency of corncob residue through sodium sulfite pretreatment.

The effects of sodium sulfite pretreatment on the delignification rate, cellulose content, enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency, and glucose yield of corncob residues (CCR) were investigated. The optimum pretreatment conditions were as follows: 12% sodium sulfite, with a pH value of 7, a temperature of 160 °C, and a holding time of 20 min. Under the optimal conditions, the cellulose content in the pretreated residue was 85.17%, and sodium lignosulfonate with a sulfonation degree of 0.677 mmol/g was obtained in the waste liquids. A delignification rate of 77.45% was also achieved after the pretreatment. Enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated CCR was carried out with cellulase (5 FPU/g substrate) and β-glucosidase (10 IU/g substrate) for 48 h. The untreated CCR were hydrolyzed using cellulase (20 FPU/g substrate) and β-glucosidase (10 IU/g substrate) for 48 h. The comparison results showed that sodium sulfite pretreatment improved the enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency and glucose yield, which increased by 28.80% and 20.10%, respectively. These results indicated that despite the application of low cellulase dosage, high enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency substrate could be produced, and the sodium lignosulfonate which can be used for oilfields and concrete additives was obtained from the sodium sulfite-pretreated CCR.

Organosolv fractionation and simultaneous conversion of lignocellulosic biomass in aqueous 1,4-butanediol/acidic ionic-liquids solution

The development of bioenergy and biorefineries has generated new requirements for the comprehensive utilization of all biomass components in fractionation. Thus, the mass balance and component streams of lignocellulosic biomass during the fractionation process have become important research components. We explored the comprehensive utilization of biomass via fractionation and partial conversion of coir with an aqueous 1,4-butanediol/acidic ionic-liquids organosolv process and analyzed the mass balance and component streams of the process. A delignification selectivity parameter was introduced to evaluate the fractionation efficiency and screen the promising experimental conditions (processing temperature, duration, and solvent ratio). The process exhibited an excellent capability for lignin extraction and hemicellulose conversion. Cellulose-rich materials with a purity of up to 87% were obtained with an elevated relative crystallinity of cellulose materials (up to 65%). The process resulted in a near complete conversion of hemicellulose (up to 93%) and a high delignification rate (up to 88%). The conversion products can be readily extracted from the reaction liquid using ethyl acetate. The experimental conditions, especially temperature, had a significant influence on the component conversion of biomass during the process. Acid, ester, and aldehyde products had a significant, linear relationship with mass removal throughout the process. 4-Methyl-hexanoic acid, γ-lactone D-glucuronic acid, and 2-hydroxy-pentanoic acid ethyl ester were identified as the primary conversion products for carbohydrates (mainly hemicellulose), whereas only a limited number of phenol compounds were recognized as lignin derivatives. Through the efficient fractionation of cellulose and lignin components as well as the conversion of most hemicellulose to chemicals, this process provides a potential strategy for transforming lignocellulosic biomass into materials, chemicals, and energy sources.