This
study evaluated the use of a new redox catalyst (2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone,
HNQ) in order to contribute to the preservation of the carbohydrate
fraction and to increase delignification of sugarcane bagasse (SB)
subjected to soda pretreatment, without inhibiting enzyme activity
during saccharification. The effects of HNQ were compared to the well-known
redox catalyst anthraquinone (AQ). A 25‑1 fractional
design and a 22 central composite design were used for
optimization of the soda-HNQ pretreatment of SB. The use of HNQ promoted
preservation of 76.4% cellulose and 86.2% hemicelluloses, as well
as 86.1% delignification of raw SB, showing a superior performance
than AQ. The optimized pretreatment conditions were 150 °C, 60
min, 15% (w w–1) NaOH, 0.4% (w w–1) HNQ, and a liquid-to-solid ratio of 9.6 mL g–1. Saccharification of SB pretreated by soda-HNQ yielded higher overall
glucose (74.0%) and xylose (74.3%) yields compared to SB pretreated
by AQ (64.9% glucose, 67.3% xylose).
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