Biotransformation of Phenolics in Spent Liquor from Aqueous Ammonia Pretreatment

Zhou, Shengfei; García‐Mancilla, Maximiliano; Clar, Jordi Francis; Runge, Troy M.; Donohue, Timothy J.; Noguera, Daniel R.; Karlen, Steven D.

doi:10.1002/cssc.202500881

Biotransformation of Phenolics in Spent Liquor from Aqueous Ammonia Pretreatment

Journal Article · Wed Sep 10 04:00:00 EDT 2025 · ChemSusChem

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202500881· OSTI ID:2588018

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Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), Madison, WI (United States); Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)

Spent liquors of biomass pretreatment provide a source for renewable chemical production. These liquors require treatment before being discharged; otherwise, they negatively impact the environment. Herein, spent liquors from aqueous ammonia pretreatment of poplar wood are characterized for phenolic content via liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The main phenolics are phenol, p-hydroxybenzamide (pHBAm), and p-hydroxybenzoic acid (pHBA), of which pHBAm and pHBA are produced from the ester-linked p-hydroxybenzoates in poplar wood. Phenol is produced from pHBA via decarboxylation. The potential biotransformation of the extracted phenolics into 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylic acid (PDC) is assessed using an engineered strain of Novosphingobium aromaticivorans DSM12444 (PDC strain). Biotransformation of pHBAm to PDC is shown to be possible in the presence of pHBA, but not when pHBAm is the sole phenolic substrate, this is the first reported observation of N. aromaticivorans producing PDC from an aromatic amide. The phenol present is not transformed to PDC and does not inhibit PDC production. This study demonstrates that the phenolic amide in spent liquor from ammonia pretreatment can be valorized via biotransformation using N. aromaticivorans, which adds to the growing versatility of N. aromaticivorans as a microbial chassis for converting plant-derived compounds to useful products.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), Madison, WI (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0018409

OSTI ID:: 2588018

Journal Information:: ChemSusChem, Journal Name: ChemSusChem; ISSN 1864-5631; ISSN 1864-564X

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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