Preface

Interest in biofuels and value-added chemicals that can be produced from biomass is increasing daily as societies look to sustainable sources of energy. Ionic liquids are used for the pretreatment and chemical transformation of biomass due to their unique ability for dissolving lignocellulosic materials. Although there are many books on the topic of either biomass conversion or ionic liquids, the unique feature of this book is that it links biomass conversion with ionic liquids and chemicals such that processing, chemistry, biofuel production, enzyme compatibility and environmental treatment are covered for conceptual design of a biorefinery. This book is the first book of the series entitled Biofuels and Biorefineries.

This book consists of 12 chapters contributed by leading world-experts on biomass conversion with ionic liquids. Each chapter was subjected to peer-review and carefully revised by the authors and editors so that the quality of the material could be improved. The chapters are arranged in five parts:

Part I: Synthesis and Fundamentals of Ionic Liquids for Biomass Conversion (Chaps. 1, 2, and 3).

Part II: Dissolution and Derivation of Cellulose and Fractionation of Lignocellu — losic Materials with Ionic Liquids (Chaps. 4, 5, and 6).

Part III: Production of Biofuels and Chemicals in Ionic Liquids (Chaps. 7, 8, and 9). Part IV: Compatibility of Ionic Liquids with Enzymes in Biomass Treatment (Chaps. 10 and 11).

Part V: Ionic Liquids for Absorption and Biodegradation of Organic Pollutants in Multiphase Systems (Chap. 12).

Chapter 1 introduces the fundamentals of ionic liquids related to biomass treatment. Chapter 2 gives an outline of design and synthesis of ionic liquids for cellulose dissolution and plant biomass treatment. Chapter 3 overviews the recent advances made with choline-chloride (ChCl) not only for the activation of biomass but also for its conversion to value-added chemicals. Chapter 4 summarizes approaches to design of ionic liquids that have good capability for dissolving cellulose and discusses factors for realizing efficient room-temperature dissolution of cellulose dissolution and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis. Chapter 5 provides a

comprehensive overview about the use of ionic liquids for the chemical derivati — zation of cellulose. Chapter 6 reviews the current state of knowledge and process development in the area of ionic liquid fractionation of wood, and reports findings on factors that control the solubility of wood in ionic liquids. Chapter 7 provides an overview on the biodiesel production in ionic liquids, ionic liquids-catalyzed biodiesel production, ionic liquids-modified enzymes for biodiesel production, purification of bio-alcohols with ionic liquids, and prospects. Chapter 8 focuses on catalytic transformations of biomass into fuels and chemicals in ionic liquids. Chapter 9 describes the efficient methods for producing the platform chemical, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural with ionic liquids. Chapter 10 covers the biocompatibility issues of ionic liquids, for example, biocatalysts in ionic liquids media, the effect of ionic liquids properties on the activity and stability of enzymes, approaches to enhance the activity and stability of enzymes in the ionic liquids containing medium, and rational design of ionic liquids for use with enzymatic reactions. Chapter 11 focuses on the application of enzyme technology in ionic liquids. Chapter 12 introduces the potential of ionic liquids for hydrophobic organic pollutants absorption and biodegradation in multiphase systems.

This book reviews many aspects of the ionic liquids techniques necessary for efficient development of biomass resources. The text should be of interest to students, researchers, academicians and industrialists in the area of ionic liquids and biomass conversion.

Beijing, People’s Republic of China Sendai, Japan

Tianjin, People’s Republic of China

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, we would like to thank all the contributing authors for their many efforts to insure the reliability of the information given in the chapters. Contributing authors have really made this project realizable.

Apart from the efforts of authors, we would also like to acknowledge the individuals listed below for carefully reading the book chapters and giving con­structive comments that significantly improved the quality of many aspects of the text:

Dr. Leigh Aldous, the University of New South Wales, Australia;

Dr. Agnieszka Brandt, Imperial College London, UK;

Prof. Johann Gdrgens, Stellenbosch University, South Africa;

Prof. Yanlong Gu, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China;

Prof. Mohd Ali Hashim, University of Malaya, Malaysia;

Prof. Noriho Kamiya, Kyushu University, Japan;

Dr. Takao Kishimoto, Toyama Prefectural University, Japan;

Dr. Jong Min Lee, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore;

Dr. Sang Hyun Lee, Konkuk University, South Korea;

Prof. Jean-Marc Leveque, Universite de Savoie, France,

Dr. Ruigang Liu, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China;

Prof. Rafael Luque, Universidad de Cordoba, Spain;

Dr. Patrick Navard, Ecole des Mines de Paris/CNRS, France;

Dr. Vladimir Raus, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic;

Prof. Robin D. Rogers, The University of Alabama, USA.;

Prof. Roger A. Sheldon, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands;

Prof. Run-Cang Sun, Beijing Forestry University;

Dr. Yugen Zhang, Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, Singapore;

We are also grateful to Ms. Becky Zhao (senior editor) and Ms. Abbey Huang (editorial assistant) for their encouragement and assistant with the guidelines during preparation of the book.

Finally, we would like to express our deepest gratitude towards our family for their kind cooperation and encouragement, which helped us in completion of this project.

Zhen FANG, August 1, 2013 in Kunming Richard L. Smith, Jr., August 1, 2013 in Sendai Xinhua Qi, August 1, 2013 in Tianjin