• Abstract
• Full-Text PDF [552 KB]

• Article Statistics
• PubMed/Medline
• Google Scholar
• Order Reprints

• Cite this article
• Export to BibTeX
• Export to EndNote

• [+] on DOAJ
• Achyuthan, K
• Achyuthan, A
• Adams, P
• Dirk, S
• Harper, J
• Simmons, B
• Singh, A
• [+] on Google Scholar
• Achyuthan, K
• Achyuthan, A
• Adams, P
• Dirk, S
• Harper, J
• Simmons, B
• Singh, A
• [+] on PubMed
• Achyuthan, K
• Achyuthan, A
• Adams, P
• Dirk, S
• Harper, J
• Simmons, B
• Singh, A

•  CiteULike
•  Facebook
•  Mendeley
•  Twitter

This article is

• freely available
• re-usable

Molecules 2010, 15(12), 8641-8688; doi:10.3390/molecules15118641

Review

Supramolecular Self-Assembled Chaos: Polyphenolic Lignin’s Barrier to Cost-Effective Lignocellulosic Biofuels

Komandoor Elayavalli Achyuthan ^1,2,* , Ann Mary Achyuthan ³ , Paul David Adams ^1,4 , Shawn Matthew Dirk ² , Jason Carl Harper ² , Blake Alexander Simmons ^1,5  and Anup Kumar Singh ^1,5

¹ Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), Emeryville, CA 94550, USA ² Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185, USA ³ Biology Department, Northern New Mexico College, Espanola, NM 87532, USA ⁴ Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA ⁵ Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA 94550, USA

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 15 October 2010; in revised form: 22 November 2010 / Accepted: 25 November 2010 / Published: 29 November 2010

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phenolics and Polyphenolics)

Download PDF Full-Text [552 KB, uploaded 29 November 2010 16:53 CET]

Abstract: Phenylpropanoid metabolism yields a mixture of monolignols that undergo chaotic, non-enzymatic reactions such as free radical polymerization and spontaneous self-assembly in order to form the polyphenolic lignin which is a barrier to cost-effective lignocellulosic biofuels. Post-synthesis lignin integration into the plant cell wall is unclear, including how the hydrophobic lignin incorporates into the wall in an initially hydrophilic milieu. Self-assembly, self-organization and aggregation give rise to a complex, 3D network of lignin that displays randomly branched topology and fractal properties. Attempts at isolating lignin, analogous to archaeology, are instantly destructive and non-representative of in planta. Lack of plant ligninases or enzymes that hydrolyze specific bonds in lignin-carbohydrate complexes (LCCs) also frustrate a better grasp of lignin. Supramolecular self-assembly, nano-mechanical properties of lignin-lignin, lignin-polysaccharide interactions and association-dissociation kinetics affect biomass deconstruction and thereby cost-effective biofuels production.

Keywords: lignin; supramolecular self-assembly; cell wall; deconstruction; enzymes; LCC; fractal; lignocellulosic biofuels

Article Statistics

Cite This Article