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This work is devoted to study pre-treatment methodologies of wheat straw with 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([emim][CH3COO]) and subsequent fractionation to cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. The method developed and described here allows the separation into high purity carbohydrate and lignin fractions and permits an efficient IL recovery. A versatility of the established method was confirmed by the IL reuse. The fractionation of completely dissolved biomass led to cellulose-rich and hemicellulose-rich fractions. A high purity lignin was also achieved. To verify the potential further applicability of the obtained carbohydrate-rich fractions, and to evaluate the pre-treatment efficiency, the cellulose fraction resulting from the treatment with [emim][CH3COO] was subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis. Results showed a very high digestibility of the cellulose samples and confirmed a high glucose yield for the optimized pre-treatment methodology.

Wheat straw was subjected to autohydrolysis treatments in order to selectively hydrolyze the hemicellulose fraction. The effects of temperature (150-240 degrees C) and non-isothermal reaction time on the composition of both liquid and solid phases were evaluated and interpreted using the severity factor (log R0). The operational conditions leading to the maximum recovery of hemicellulose-derived sugars were established for log R0 = 3.96 and correspond to 64% of the original (arabino)xylan with 80% of sugars as xylooligosaccharides. Under these conditions, a solubilization of 58% xylan, 83% arabinan, and 98% acetyl groups occurred. Glucan was mainly retained in the solid phase (maximum solubilization 16%), which enables an enrichment of the solid phase to contain up to 61% glucan. Delignification was not extensive, being utmost 15%. The yields of soluble products, including sugars, acetic acid, and degradation compounds, such as, furfural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural furfural obtained suggest the fitness of liquid stream for fermentation purposes or to obtain xylooligosaccharides with potential applications in food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries.

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Mild fractionation/pretreatment processes are becoming the most preferred choices for biomass processing within the biorefinery framework. To further explore their advantages, new developments are needed, especially to increase the extent of the hydrolysis of poly‐ and oligosaccharides. A possible way forward is the use of solid acid catalysts that may overcome many current drawbacks of other common methods. In this Review, the advantages and limitations of the use of heterogeneous catalysis for the main groups of solid acid catalysts (zeolites, resins, carbon materials, clays, silicas, and other oxides) and their relation to the hydrolysis of model soluble disaccharides and soluble poly‐ and oligosaccharides are presented and discussed. Special attention is given to the hydrolysis of hemicelluloses and hemicellulose‐derived saccharides into monosaccharides, the impact on process performance of potential catalyst poisons originating from biomass and biomass hydrolysates (e.g., proteins, mineral ions, etc.). The data clearly point out the need for studying hemicelluloses in natura rather than in model compound solutions that do not retain the relevant factors influencing process performance. Furthermore, the desirable traits that solid acid catalysts must possess for the efficient hemicellulose hydrolysis are also presented and discussed with regard to the design of new catalysts.