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Updated: Mar 29, 2026

Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass with Low-cost Ionic Liquids
Published on: August 10, 2016
Application of Ionic Liquids in the Downstream Processing of Lignocellulosic Biomass
Sviatlana Siankevich1, Zhaofu Fei1, Ning Yan2
1Institut des Sciences et Ingénierie Chimiques Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Chemical transformations of lignocellulosic substrates to valuable platform chemicals are challenging as lignin and cellulose have high thermal and chemical stabilities. However, certain ionic liquids are able to dissolve and deconstruct biomass and, in the presence of catalysts, convert the dissolved/deconstructed species into useful platform chemicals. Herein, we provide a concise overview of the role of ionic liquids in biomass processing. Using 5-hydroxymethylfurfural as an example of a renewable building block, available from cellulose, we show how ionic liquids can facilitate its production.
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