摘要
As the most abundant source of biomass in nature for sustainable production of fuels and chemicals,efficient depolymerization of cellulose under mild conditions,due to the difficulty in selective cleavage of itsβ-1,4-glycosidic bonds,still remains challenging.Here,we report a novel method for oxidative cleavage of the glycosidic bonds by free radicals.Probed by the cellobiose reaction,it was found that·OH radicals,generated from the decomposition of H2O2 catalyzed by CuSO4 or CuO/SiO2,were efficient for selective conversion of cellobiose to glucose and gluconic acid at a low temperature of 333 K,and their selectivities reached 30.0%and 34.6%,respectively,at 23.4%cellobiose conversion.Other radicals,such as·SO4?,also exhibited high efficacy in the cellobiose reaction.Mechanistic studies suggest that the oxidative cleavage of theβ-1,4-glycosidic bond by the free radicals involve formation of the carbon radical intermediate via abstraction of the H atom dominantly at the C1 position.Following this oxidative mechanism,treatment of microcrystalline cellulose with·OH by impregnation with H2O2 and CuSO4 catalyst at 343 K led to significant enhancement in its hydrolysis efficiency.These results demonstrate the effectiveness of this new method in the oxidative cleavage of glycosidic bonds,and its viability for the efficient depolymerization of cellulose at low temperatures,which can be further improved,for example,by exploring new free radicals and optimizing their reactivity and selectivity.
纤维素是葡萄糖通过β-1,4-糖苷键链接而成的高聚物,在木质纤维素中含量最高,结构稳定,较难水解.糖苷键的解聚主要有三种方式:酶水解、酸水解以及碱降解.酶解的优点是反应条件温和、副产物少,但存在成本高、活性低等缺点,限制了其大规模的工业化生产.碱水解纤维素的同时伴随着葡萄糖的peeling-off反应得到异变糖酸,需要消耗大量的碱,并且强碱也存在腐蚀性强和回收难等问题.酸水解是目前工业上常用的纤维素水解方法,在保持较高葡萄糖选择性的同时,通过对反应条件的控制(提高反应温度和酸浓度)来提高纤维素的水解效率,但是硫酸对设备的腐蚀性强,也难以回收,不符合绿色化学的发展要求.固体酸是近年来研究较多的纤维素水解催化剂.固体酸虽然腐蚀性弱、易回收,但是其活性低,水热稳定性较差,目前还不具备大规模生产的条件.本文发展了一种羟基自由基活化断裂糖苷键的方法,利用羟基自由基的高活性在低温下实现糖苷键的选择性断裂,同时羟基自由基与糖苷键作用后转化为无毒无害的水和氧气,将不会对环境造成污染.我们首先以纤维二糖作为纤维素的模型分子,通过羟基自由基能够优先与糖苷键反应得到葡萄糖和葡萄糖酸的实验证实所提出的方法的可行性.实验表明,来自H2O2的·OH自由基能够在铜基催化剂作用下选择性氧化断裂其糖苷键,生成葡萄糖和葡萄糖酸.比如:采用均相CuSO4体系,纤维二糖转化率约为20%时,葡萄糖和葡萄糖酸的选择性分别为28.5%和32.3%.采用多相CuO/SiO2(4 wt%CuO)体系,纤维二糖转化率约为20%时,葡萄糖和葡萄糖酸的选择性约分别为23.3%和25.7%,并且该催化剂具有良好的循环使用性能.与·OH类似,CuSO4催化过硫酸钾生成的·SO4-自由基也能够有效转化纤维二糖,在纤维二糖转化率为20%时,葡萄糖和葡萄糖酸的选择性分别为36.6%和39.9%.
基金
国家重点基础研究发展计划(2016YFB0701100)
国家自然科学基金(21690081,21433001,21832001,21821004)
北京分子科学国家实验室基金(BNLMS-CXXM-201905).
