Functional ionic liquids for hydrolysis of lignocellulose

An efficient system for hydrolysis of lignocellulosic materials to prepare reducing sugar in a series of functional acidic ionic liquids with low synthetic cost and excellent dissolved and catalytic activity was established. High yield of reducing sugar was obtained with the use of 1-H-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([HMIM]Cl). The use of ionic liquid under ultrasound irradiation greatly improved the yield of total reducing sugar. The optimum reaction conditions were as follows: ratio of water/sample was 5 (w/w), ratio of IL/sample was 25 (w/w), 70 °C, 120 min and the yield of reducing sugar was up to 53.27 mg from 0.2 g of soybean straw and 50.03 mg from 0.2 g of corn straw.