Molecular Characteristics and Antioxidant Activity of Spruce ( Picea abies ) Hemicelluloses Isolated by Catalytic Oxidative Delignification.

Spruce ( Picea abies ) wood hemicelluloses have been obtained by the noncatalytic and catalytic oxidative delignification in the acetic acid-water-hydrogen peroxide medium in a processing time of 3-4 h and temperatures of 90-100 °C. In the catalytic process, the H 2 SO 4 , MnSO 4 , TiO 2 , and (NH 4 ) 6 Mo 7 O 24 catalysts have been used. A polysaccharide yield of up to 11.7 wt% has been found. The hemicellulose composition and structure have been studied by a complex of physicochemical methods, including gas and gel permeation chromatography, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The galactose:mannose:glucose:arabinose:xylose monomeric units in a ratio of 5:3:2:1:1 have been identified in the hemicelluloses by gas chromatography. Using gel permeation chromatography, the weight average molar mass M w of hemicelluloses has been found to attain 47,654 g/mol in noncatalytic delignification and up to 42,793 g/mol in catalytic delignification. Based on the same technique, a method for determining the α and k parameters of the Mark-Kuhn-Houwink equation for hemicelluloses has been developed; it has been established that these parameters change between 0.33-1.01 and 1.57-472.17, respectively, depending on the catalyst concentration and process temperature and time. Moreover, the FTIR spectra of the hemicellulose samples contain all the bands characteristic of heteropolysaccharides, specifically, 1069 cm -1 (C-O-C and C-O-H), 1738 cm -1 (ester C=O), 1375 cm -1 (-C-CH 3 ), 1243 cm -1 (-C-O-), etc. It has been determined by the thermogravimetric analysis that the hemicelluloses isolated from spruce wood are resistant to heating to temperatures of up to ~100 °C and, upon further heating, start destructing at an increasing rate. The antioxidant activity of the hemicelluloses has been examined using the compounds simulating the 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radicals.