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Updated: May 31, 2026

Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass with Low-cost Ionic Liquids
Published on: August 10, 2016
Hydrolysis of cellulose in SO₃H-functionalized ionic liquids
Furong Tao1, Huanling Song, Lingjun Chou
1State Key Laboratory for Oxo Synthesis and Selective Oxidation, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, PR China.
Abstract:
Influence of acidity and structure of ionic liquids on microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) hydrolysis was investigated. MnCl₂-containing ionic liquids (ILs) were efficient catalysts and achieved MCC conversion rates of 91.2% and selectivities for 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF), furfural and levulinic acid (LA) of 45.7%, 26.2% and 10.5%, respectively. X-ray diffractometry indicated that catalytic hydrolysis of MCC in ionic liquids resulted in the changes to MCC crystallinity and transformation of cellulose I into cellulose II. SO₃H-functionalized ionic liquids showed higher activities than non-functionalized ILs. The simplicity of the chemical transformation of cellulose provides a new approach for the use this polymer as raw material for renewable energy and chemical industries.
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