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The present thesis investigates the application of pressurized mixtures of imidazolium-based ionic liquids with traditional organic solvents for the dissolution and extraction of lignocellulosic biomass, with bamboo as a specific example of renewable biomass. The approach has been unconventional in that the focus has been on solvent mixtures in which the ionic liquid is the minor component. The objective has been to combine the solvating power of the ionic liquid with a traditional solvent such as ethanol to modulate the outcomes of solubility and extractions by tuning the parameters of fluid composition, temperature, and pressure. Working with mixtures of ionic liquids in traditional solvents as process solvents lowers the viscosity of the medium and thus reduces the transport limitations that are often encountered when working with pure ionic liquids. Among other potential advantages are the reductions in overall process cost that are associated with ionic liquids, potentially easier recovery of post-extraction products, and the recycling of the ionic liquids. This thesis has also addressed another important question regarding the thermal stability of the ionic liquids as a processing medium at elevated temperatures and pressures over time, which may negatively impact their recovery and reuse, and may lead to environmentally unacceptable consequences. The dissolution experiments were carried out in a specially designed high-pressure view-cell equipped with sapphire windows for visual or optical observations. Evaluations were made employing standard characterization tools such as Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-Vis Spectroscopy, and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Thermal stability studies were carried out using a combination of a view-cell and fiber optic UV-Vis capability at high pressures (up to 350 bar) and temperatures (up to 150 ℃). The dissolution of bamboo was first explored using mixtures of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([EMIM]Ac) with ethanol at temperatures from 100 to 150 ℃ and pressures from 35 to 350 bar over 4 or 24 h extraction times. The fluid mixtures employed were in the range of 1 - 40 wt % ionic liquid, which is in contrast to relevant dissolution experiments reported in the literature which either use pure ionic liquids or have the ionic liquids as the majority component. The effects of changing the temperature, pressure, and solvent composition on the removal of different components of the bamboo were assessed. Temperature played the most significant role in the amount of material extracted from the bamboo, with higher temperatures resulting in the removal of more lignin than cellulose and greater conversion of crystalline cellulose to the less recalcitrant amorphous form of cellulose. The concentration of ionic liquid in solution was also important, with higher concentrations resulting in more dissolved biomass. Finally, increasing the pressure resulted in higher amounts of dissolved biomass. The next series of studies focused on rigorously assessing the stability of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate and chloride ionic liquids with alkyl chain lengths from 2 to 10 under both isothermal and non-isothermal conditions via thermogravimetric analysis. Isothermal degradation experiments were conducted at temperatures ranging from 100 to 225 ℃ over time periods ranging from two hours to three weeks. Non-isothermal degradation experiments were conducted at heating rates of 5, 10, 15, and 20 ℃/min from room temperature to 650 ℃. The activation energies and pre-exponential factors were assessed with isoconversional integral methods; the activation energies () ranged from 115 to 157 kJ/mol, and the pre-exponential factors (()) ranged from 24-38. The degradation reactions could be described as 1st order, as they often are in the literature, but were best fit by the 3-dimensional reaction model. Ionic liquids with longer alkyl chains on their imidazolium rings decomposed more quickly and at lower temperatures. The thermal stability of the most promising ionic liquids ([EMIM]Ac, [BMIM]Ac, [EMIM]Cl, and [BMIM]Cl) were then assessed more closely at the possible biomass processing conditions that were being considered. The primary interest was determining the effects of various cosolvents on the thermal stability of these ionic liquids at the process temperatures and pressures, from 100 to 150 ℃ and 35 to 350 bar. These evaluations were carried out in the same high-pressure view cell in which the extraction experiments were conducted. To assess the degradation of the ionic liquids, time-evolved UV spectra of the mixtures were generated. It was found that more protic solvents such as water attenuated the degradation of the ionic liquids, whereas aprotic solvents such as DMF significantly exacerbated their degradation. Among the ionic liquids evaluated, it was found that [BMIM]Cl had the greatest stability in ethanol at 150 ℃. The bamboo extraction experiments were then continued with mixtures of [BMIM]Cl in ethanol. The results showed that higher temperatures are necessary to extract lignin and cellulose, with [BMIM]Cl's thermal stability at these temperatures giving it the advantage over [EMIM]Ac. In this system as well it was shown that higher concentrations of ionic liquid facilitated the extraction of more biomass. However, biomass constituents that dissolve into mixtures with lower concentrations of ionic liquid readily precipitate back out of solution when the mixture is returned to room conditions. Along with the results of the studies with [EMIM]Ac, the experiments conducted with [BMIM]Cl show that an increase in pressure results in greater amounts of dissolved biomass holding other conditions constant. The thesis, in summary, presents for the first time (a) the use of ionic liquids as a minor component in organic solvents as a potential biomass processing media, (b) the thermal stability of ionic liquids in a cosolvents at high pressures and temperatures, and (c) experimental results showing that pressure can enhance the amount that can be extracted from biomass with mixtures of ionic liquids in a cosolvent like ethanol. / Doctor of Philosophy / The purpose of the work detailed in the present thesis is to better understand the effects of mixtures of ionic liquids and traditional solvents on woody biomass. Ionic liquids are organic salts with melting points below 100 ℃, and they possess unique physical and chemical properties that can facilitate the dissolution or extraction of otherwise recalcitrant materials. There is a rapidly growing need for greener and more sustainable methods of processing woody biomass, which consist of primarily cellulose, lignin, and hemicelluloses. Industrial use of these liquids as processing solvents for woody biomass is limited by their relatively high viscosity, cost, and the difficulty of separating dissolved materials back out of solution. One method used to address these limitations is to mix the ionic liquids with other solvents, such as ethanol. The studies detailed in this thesis also seek to understand the effects of temperature and pressure on both the dissolution of woody biomass and on the degradation of the ionic liquids. The studies employ both traditional characterization equipment and a custom-designed view-cell which allowed for observation and characterization at high temperatures and pressures. The first part of the study investigated the dissolution of bamboo with mixtures of the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate, [EMIM]Ac, and ethanol. The effects of changing the temperature, pressure, and solvent composition on the removal of different components of the bamboo were assessed. It was found that temperature played the most significant role in the amount of material extracted, with higher temperatures resulting in the removal of more lignin than cellulose. The concentration of ionic liquid in solution was also important, with higher concentrations resulting in more dissolved biomass. Finally, increasing the pressure resulted in higher amounts of dissolved biomass. The next parts of the study focused on the degradation of the ionic liquids at elevated temperatures. The type of ionic liquids used in this study do not boil or evaporate at high temperatures, but instead break down into constituents that are themselves volatile. The thermal degradation of the ionic liquid used in the initial biomass dissolution experiments was investigated along with a series of similar ionic liquids. Their degradation behavior was assessed both by measuring their mass over time at a single constant temperature, and by heating them at a constant rate until they fully degraded. This behavior was mathematically modeled. The thermal stability of the most promising ionic liquids were then investigated in mixtures with other solvents in the high-pressure experimental cell under the same temperature and pressure conditions used in the biomass dissolution experiments. The ionic liquid found to have the best stability in ethanol in those experiments was 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, [BMIM]Cl. Further dissolution experiments were carried out with mixtures of this ionic liquid in ethanol. These experiments took the insights gained from the previous investigations to further clarify the effects of temperature, concentration, and pressure on the dissolution of bamboo in mixtures of ionic liquid and ethanol. It was again shown that higher temperatures are necessary to extract lignin and cellulose. It was also shown that higher concentrations of ionic liquid facilitate the extraction of more biomass. However, it was also shown that biomass dissolved into mixtures with lower concentrations of ionic liquid readily precipitates back out of solution when the mixture is returned to room conditions. Pressure was again shown to have a favorable effect on the amount of material extracted.

The effects of climate change have made the need to develop sustainable production practices for biofuels and other chemicals imminent. The development of the green economy has also led to many industries voluntarily improving the sustainability of the products they produce. The microbial production of fatty acid-derived chemicals allows for the opportunity to reduce petroleum-based chemicals in the marketplace. However, for microbial produced chemicals to be industrially competitive, significant work is needed to improve the production capacity of industrial strains. There are a number of bottlenecks and challenges related to the production of various fatty acid derivatives that need to be addressed. One of these key challenges relates to the source of the fermentation feedstock. While sources such as corn or sugar cane are currently common, these feedstocks compete with food supply and require nutrient-rich soils. The use of lignocellulosic feedstocks is preferred to combat this issue, however these feedstocks present their own unique challenges. Pretreatment is required to release fermentable sugars, and this process also results in various fermentation inhibitors released into the solution. A better understanding of how engineered strains utilize these fermentable sugars as well as improving resistance to the inhibitors will help to improve the chemical production capacity of these chemical products. This work will focus on describing key bottlenecks related to fatty acid-derived products, while also evaluating proposed solutions to these bottlenecks. / Master of Science

A biomassa lignocelulósica é uma fonte abundante de açúcares simples passíveis de serem fermentados em uma variedade de bioprodutos de maior valor agregado, além do etanol de segunda geração. Tal diversidade é relevante ao desenvolvimento e aprimoramento do conceito de biorrefinarias e da bioeconomia, em um viés mais amplo. Todavia, a elevada recalcitrância dos lignocelulósicos dificulta a sua sacarificação enzimática, resultando em bioprocessos mais onerosos. Por isso, coquetéis com diferentes enzimas ativas em carboidrato (CAZymes) são desenvolvidos, em busca de uma maior eficiência e melhor relação custo/benefício, para processos em larga escala. Dentre as CAZymes estudadas, encontram-se as mono-oxigenases líticas de polissacarídeo (LPMOs), tendo em vista a sua atestada capacidade de otimizar a hidrólise da lignocelulose, quando em sinergismo com diversas hidrolases. Levando isto em conta, selecionou-se, ao atual estudo, o ascomiceto termofílico Thermothelomyces thermophila (anteriormente denominado Myceliophthora thermophila), pois este tem se mostrado capaz de expressar e secretar ampla gama de LPMOs ativas em diferentes substratos. Objetivando-se estudar duas LPMOs derivadas deste organismo, as mesmas foram expressas, heterologamente, por Aspergillus nidulans linhagem A773, utilizando-se o vetor de expressão pEXPYR construído para viabilizar a secreção de altas concentrações de proteínas recombinantes. As proteínas heterólogas aqui analisadas foram denominadas TtLPMO1A9 e TtLPMO2A9. Embora ambas tenham sido capazes de gerar peróxido de hidrogênio na presença de oxigênio molecular e de um doador de elétrons, apenas TtLPMO2A9 apresentou atividade contra substratos celulósicos e bagaço de cana pré-tratado hidrotermicamente, atuando, em associação com hidrolases homemade e o preparo enzimático comercial Celluclast 1.5L, a degradação de tais materiais. / The lignocellulosic biomass is an abundant source of simple sugars that can be fermented to various value-added bio-based products. This diversity is seen as relevant to the improvement of biorefinery and bioeconomy concept. Nevertheless, the significant recalcitrance of lignocellulose imposes dificulties to its enzymatic saccharification, resulting in onerous bioprocessing. This scenario stimulates studies based on the development of efficient and cost-effective customizable carbohydrate-active enzyme (CAZymes) cocktails for large-scale processes. Among the available CAZymes, there are the lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs), a set of oxidative proteins capable of optimizing the lignocellulose hydrolysis, when acting in synergism with various hydrolases. Based on this fact, in the current study, the thermophilic ascomycete Thermothelomyces thermophila (previously known as Myceliophthora thermophila) was adopted, because of its ability of expressing and secreting large amounts of LPMOs. Thus, two LPMOs derived from this fungus was heterologously produced by an expression system composed by Aspergillus nidulans strain A773 and the vector pEXPYR: an expression vector built to increase the secretion of recombinant proteins. The heterologous proteins herein analysed were termed as TtLPMO1A9 and TtLPMO2A9. Although both enzymes were able to produce hydrogen peroxide in the presence of molecular oxygen and an electron donor, only the second one was active in reactions with cellulosic substrates and hydrothermally pre-treated sugar cane bagasse. When tailor-made hydrolases and the commercial enzymatic mixture Celluclast 1.5L were supplemented with TtLPMO2A9, it was noticed na improvement of the deconstruction of the aforementioned substrates.

A busca por novas tecnologias que visam à produção de biocombustíveis renováveis, especialmente bioetanol e outros biomateriais, tem se intensificado nos últimos anos. Há um interesse mundial crescente na limitação dos impactos ambientais e mudanças climáticas através da substituição de produtos petroquímicos por análogos ambientalmente corretos, a fim de alcançar uma economia mais sustentável. Além disso, as plataformas biorrefinarias lignocelulósicas necessárias para a produção de bioetanol representam uma oportunidade de estimular novos mercados para o setor agrícola e aumentar os empregos locais, contribuindo para o desenvolvimento das economias emergentes. No entanto, a maioria dos processos de conversão são baseados no conhecimento empírico, exigindo estudos mais aprofundados sobre os fatores envolvidos na hidrólise enzimática da celulose, tais como características biomassas, a otimização da etapa de pré-tratamento, bem como das atividades das enzimas e seus mecanismos de ação. Assim, com o objetivo de contribuir para a viabilização e implantação das tecnologias de produção do etanol lignocelulósico, na primeira parte deste trabalho de doutorado, foi realizada a purificação da β-glicosidase do fungo Aspergillus Níger (NaBgl1), principal enzima do coquetel comercial Novozymes 188, e sua caracterização bioquímica e biofísica. As análises de espalhamento de raios-x a baixo ângulo revelaram uma organização multidomínios desta enzima, com uma estrutura molecular de girino semelhante ao encontrado para as celulases. A sua estrutura é composta por um domínio catalítico N-terminal e um domínio fibronectina de tipo III (FnIII) na região C-terminal, conectados entre si por um longo linker com uma inserção de 100 resíduos de aminoácidos numa conformação estendida. Apesar desta estrutura molecular incomum, os ensaios de eletroforese capilar revelaram um perfil processividade característico de β-glucosidases, e os ensaios enzimáticos confirmaram, também, a ausência de atividade em substratos poliméricos. Nos ensaios adosrção com diferentes compostos poliméricos, a enzima β-glicosidase mostrou uma capacidade de adsorção elevada em lignina. Os mecanismos de ligação FnIII-lignina foram elucidados por simulações de dinâmica molecular, que confirmaram apresença de vários sítios de ligação à lignina no domínio FnIII da enzima. Como segunda parte da presente tese, diferentes biomassas, como bagaço de cana, resíduos de casca de eucalipto e gramíneas (Panicum maximum, Pennisetum purpureum e Brachiaria brizantha) foram submetidas a vários métodos de pré-tratamento (ácido diluído, alcalino, sulfito e água quente) em diferentes condições de tratamento e avaliadas quanto ao seu potencial para a produção de bioetanol. As biomassas in natura e pré-tratadas foram caracterizadas quanto à sua composição química por métodos cromatográficos, ressonância magnética nuclear e espectroscopia de infravermelho por transformada de Fourier; o índice de cristalinidade das amostras foi determinado por método químico e difração de raios-x; as análises morfológicas foram realizadas por microscopia eletrônica de varredura; e os resultados da caracterização foram correlacionados com os perfis de sacarificação enzimática encontrados para cada uma delas. / The search for new technologies aimed at the production of renewable biofuels, specially bioethanol, and other biomaterials has intensified in recent years. There is an increasing world-wide interest in the limitation of environmental impact and climate change by replacing petrochemical products with environment-friendly analogues in order to move towards a sustainable economy. In turn, the lignocellulosic biorefining platforms required for ethanol production present an opportunity to stimulate new markets for the agriculture sector and increase domestic employment, contributing to the development of emerging economies. However, most of conversion processes are based on empirical knowledge, demanding thorough studies about the factors involved on enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose, such as biomasses characteristics, optimization of pretreatment steps and enzymes activities and molecular action mechanisms. Aiming to contribute for the viability and establishment of lignocellulosic ethanol technologies, on the first part of the present thesis, we performed the purification of main Aspergillus niger β-glucosidase (AnBgl1) from the commercial cocktail Novozymes 188 and its biochemical and biophysical characterization. The small angle x-ray scattering analysis revealed a multidomain organization, with a tadpole-like molecular shape similar to that found for cellulases. Its structure is composed by a N-terminal catalytic domain and a fibronectin type III-like (FnIII) C-terminal domain, connected by a long linker with a 100 aminoacids residues insertion in a extended conformation. In spite of this uncommon molecular structure, capilar zone electrophoresis assays revealed a processivity profile characteristic of β-glucosidases and the enzymatic assays confirmed no-activity on polymeric substrates. On the pull-dowm assays with different polymeric compounds, the β-glucosidase showed a high adsorption ability to lignin. The FnIII-lignin binding mechanisms were elucidated by molecular dynamics simulations, confirming the multiple binding sites to lignin in the enzyme FnIII domain. As a second part of the present thesis, different biomasses such as sugarcane bagasse, eucalyptus bark residues and grasses (Panicum maximum, Pennisetum purpureum and Brachiaria brizantha) were submitted to several pretreatment methods (diluted acid, alkaline, sulfite and hot water) at various conditions and evaluated about their potential to bioethanol production. The raw and pretreated biomasses were characterized about their chemical composition by chromatographic methods, nuclear magnetic ressonance and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy; the crystallinity index was determined by chemical method and x-ray diffraction; morphological features were analysed by scanning electron microscopy; and the characterization results were correlated to their enzymatic saccharification profiles.

Renewable energy sources have been proposed as a viable option to mitigate the consumption and the dependence of fossil fuels. Among the available alternatives, lignocellulosic biomass has shown great potential for bioenergy generation, and biofuels as ethanol can be obtained by fermentation from sugars present in cellulosic and hemicellulosic fractions of biomass. However, for the efficient release of fermentable sugars during the enzymatic hydrolysis step, a pretreatment process is required to modify the material in its structure and composition. In this context, hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) was proposed in this work as a new and promising alternative for pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse. Firstly, the variables NaOH concentration, solid/liquid (S/L) ratio and HC process time were optimized in HC assisted pretreatment. In optimized conditions (0.48 mol/L of NaOH, 4.27% of S/L ratio and 44.48 min), high lignin removal (60.4%) and enzymatic digestibility of cellulose fraction (97.2%) were obtained. Based in those results, new variables (inlet pressure, temperature, alkali concentration) were included for evaluation in a second stage of the study aiming to reduce the HC pretreatment time. In this case, temperature and álcali concentration showed more significance on lignin removal and hydrolysis yield of carbohydrate fraction in pretreated biomass. No significant difference in pretreatment efficiency was observed in 20 and 30 min of process time in the best conditions (70 °C, 3 bar of inlet pressure and 0.3 mol/L of NaOH). The dimensionless cavitation number influence also was evaluated in two levels (0.017 and 0.048), resulting higher efficiency using low cavitation number which was obtained using orifice plate with 16 holes (1 mm of diameter). Using the last optimized conditions and lower temperature (60 °C instead 70 °C) in order to avoid the foam formation when black liquor is reused, other alkalis (Ca(OH)2, Na2CO3, KOH) were evaluated in combination with HC and compared to the use of NaOH. High enzymatic conversions of carbohydrate fraction were observed in biomass pretreated using KOH-HC and NaOH-HC; additionally, NaOH black liquor was reused in 10 sequential batches. The pretreated biomass using fresh and reused black liquor were mixed and used for simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process (SSF) in interconnected column reactors, resulting in 62.33% of hydrolysis of total carbohydrate fractions and 17.26 g/L of ethanol production (0.48 g of ethanol/g of glucose and xylose consumed). Finally, the addition of oxidant agent (H2O2) in the alkali HC-process was optimized. In selected conditions (0.29 mol/L of NaOH, 0.78 % v/v of H2O2 and 9.8 min), 95,43% and 81.34% of enzymatic hydrolysis yield of cellulose and hemicellulose fraction were achieved respectively, using 5% of solid loading (S/L) in the hydrolysis process. When packed bed flow-through column reactor using 20% of S/L was used, 74.7% cellulose hydrolysis yield was reached. Sugars present in hydrolysate were also fermented into ethanol in bubble column reactor resulting in a yield value of 0.49 g/g and 0.68 g/L.h of productivity. By analyzing the results as a whole, HC was shown as a promising technology to accelerate the pretreatment time under mild conditions, showing advantages as simplicity of system and possibility to application in industrial scale. / O uso de fontes de energia renováveis tem sido proposto como uma alternativa viável para reduzir o consumo e a dependência de combustíveis fósseis. Entre as alternativas disponíveis, a biomassa lignocelulósica apresenta grande potencial para geração de bioenergia, sendo que biocombustíveis como o etanol podem ser obtidos por fermentação a partir de açúcares presentes em suas frações celulósicas e hemicelulósicas. No entanto, para a liberação eficiente de açúcares fermentáveis na etapa de hidrólise enzimática, é necessário um processo prévio de pré-tratamento para modificar a estrutura e composição do material. Neste contexto, no presente trabalho a cavitação hidrodinâmica (CH) foi proposta como uma nova e promissora alternativa para o pré-tratamento do bagaço de cana-de-açúcar. Em uma primeira etapa, as variáveis concentração de NaOH, relação sólido/líquido (S/L) e tempo de processo foram otimizadas no pré-tratamento assistido por CH. Em condições otimizadas (0,48 mol/L de NaOH, 4,27% de relação S/L e 44,48 min), elevados valores de remoção de lignina (60,4%) e digestibilidade enzimática da fração de celulose (97,2%) foram obtidos. Com base nesses resultados, novas variáveis (pressão à montante, temperatura e concentração de álcali) foram incluídas para avaliação em uma segunda etapa do estudo com o objetivo de reduzir o tempo de pré-tratamento com CH. Neste caso, a temperatura e a concentração de álcalis foram as mais importantes na remoção de lignina e influenciaram na hidrólise das frações carboidrato da biomassa pré-tratada. Não houve diferença significativa na eficiência do pré-tratamento em 20 e 30 minutos de tempo de processo nas melhores condições (70 ° C, 3 bar de pressão a montante e 0,3 mol/L de NaOH). A influência do adimensional -número de cavitação? também foi avaliada em dois níveis (0,017 e 0,048), resultando em maior eficiência usando o número de cavitação mais baixo, que foi obtido usando placa de orifício com 16 furos (1 mm de diâmetro). Usando estas condições otimizadas e menor temperatura (60 ° C ao invés de 70 ° C) para evitar a formação de espuma quando o licor negro é reutilizado, outros álcalis (Ca (OH)2, Na2CO3, KOH) foram avaliados em combinação com CH e comparados com o uso de NaOH. Conversões enzimáticas elevadas das frações carboidrato foram observadas em material pré-tratado utilizando KOH-CH e NaOH-CH; além disso, o licor negro de NaOH foi reutilizado em 10 bateladas sequenciais. As biomassas pré-tratadas com licor negro reutilizado e fresco foram misturadas e utilizadas em processo de sacarificação e fermentação simultâneas (SSF) em reatores de coluna interligados, resultando em 62,33% de hidrólise das frações carboidrato e 17,26 g/L de produção de etanol (0,48 g de etanol/g de glicose e xilose consumidos). Finalmente, a adição de agente oxidante (H2O2) no processo alcalino-CH foi otimizado. Nas condições selecionadas (0,29 mol/L de NaOH, 0,78% v/v de H2O2 e 9,8 min), 95,43% e 81,34% de rendimento de hidrólise enzimática das frações de celulose e hemicelulose, respectivamente, foram obtidos utilizando 5% de carregamento de sólidos (S/L) no processo de hidrólise. Quando foi utilizado reator de coluna de leito fixo com 20% de S/L, atingiu-se 74,7% de rendimento de hidrólise de celulose. Os açúcares presentes no hidrolisado também foram fermentados em etanol em um reator de coluna de bolhas, resultando em um valor de rendimento de 0,49 g/g e 0,68 g/L.h de produtividade. Analisando-se os resultados de uma forma global, demonstrou-se que a CH é uma tecnologia promissora para acelerar o tempo de pré-tratamento em condições amenas, mostrando vantagens como simplicidade do sistema e possibilidade de aplicação em escala industrial.

Orientador: Mario de Oliveira Neto / Resumo: A biomassa lignocelulósica pode ser usada para a produção de energia ou de novos bioprodutos potenciais substitutos de químicos convencionais. Porém a conversão dos polissacarídeos estruturais presentes na parede celular vegetal das células que compõe a biomassa não é simples. Isto se deve principalmente pela presença da lignina, que juntamente com a hemicelulose, formam uma estrutura coesa de microfibrilas que entrelaçam a celulose. Compostos que inibem as enzimas celulolíticas, incluindo fenólicos solúveis (derivados da lignina), açúcares solúveis, aldeídos de furano e ácidos fracos são gerados durante os diversos pré-tratamentos utilizados atualmente. Neste estudo, observamos como os fenólicos solúveis interagem com -glicosidases. Para isso, combinamos simulações de ensaio enzimático, docking molecular e dinâmica molecular para descrever o processo de ligação. Notavelmente, o ácido tânico, um dos fenólicos solúveis estudados, foi a molécula com maior poder inibitório em comparação com todos os demais fenólicos. Possivelmente devido ao seu comprimento e suas substituições de grupos químicos. A alta presença de anéis aromáticos e grupos hidroxilas no ácido tânico, leva a maior interação entre as moléculas e consequente inibição/desativação das β-glicosidases bacterianas, enquanto os grupos carboxílicos presentes nos demais fenólicos alteram os efeitos físico-químicos aumentando a hidrofobicidade; criando cargas eletrostáticas e aumentando a ligação de hidrogênio, afetando a... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Lignocellulosic biomass can be transformed to chemicals or energy products. However converting polysaccharides present on the cell wall can be limitated due to the high recalcitrance caused by the presence of lignin. Compounds that inhibit enzymes, including lignin-derived phenolics, soluble sugars, furan aldehydes, and weak acids, are generated during the various pre-treatments currently used. In this study was observed how the soluble phenolics generated significantly impede the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose. For this were combine enzymatic assay, molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations to describe the binding process between soluble phenolics and bacterial β-glycosidases. Notably, tannic acid, one of the soluble phenolics generated, was the strongest inhibitory molecule in comparison with all phenolics studied. Possibly because of its length and its substitutions of chemical groups. The high presence of aromatic rings and hydroxyl groups in tannic acid leads to greater interaction between the molecules and consequent inhibition / deactivation of bacterial β-glycosidases. Taken together, our studies of the interaction suggest that there is a high correlation between exposed hydrophobic surface areas and the number of binding sites on the inhibition of βglucosidases. These data may provide a useful basis for future biotechnological applications of microbial β-glucosidases, especially in the field of biofuel production. / Doutor