Cellulose as a platform substrate for degradable polymer synthesis

2 Cellulose as a platform substrate for degradable polymer synthesis 

For almost a century, cellulose esters have been used commercially in a variety of polymeric applications because of their usefrd physical and 

2 Molecular structures of the predominant forms of hemicellulose in hardwood and softwood tree species. 

Most biotechnological applications of hemicellulose utilize acid and/or solvent-based hydrolysates, in which the native xylan is cleaved to xylose and xylose oligomers. This saccharification can be achieved through such chemical means, but also by physical and/or enzymatic methods. Forest biomass is often treated with dilute acid or enzymatic hydrolysis as a pretreatment for fermentative application of the hemicellulosic fraction. Dilute acid hydrolysis generally uses low concentrations of mineral acids (H2SO4, HCl, 2-5%) at high temperatures (e.g. 150-170 °C) and pressures (10 atm) (Sun and Cheng, 2002). Concentrated 

Detoxification procedures are often required for acidic and steam-exploded lignocellulosic hydrolysates, as variable concentrations of toxic furans (furfural and 5-HMF), lignin degradation compounds (aromatics and phenolics including vanillin, catechol, guaiacol, ferulic acid, syringaldehyde, and 4-hydroxy- 

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