Researchers identify butylamine as a promising solution to many challenges at biorefineries.
Biological and Environmental Research
February 5, 2026
minute read time
The Science
Microbes can convert sugars found in plant biomass into valuable products via fermentation. Certain solvents can play a key role in this process. These solvents make it easier to break down lignocellulosic biomass into fermentable sugars. Researchers have tested several solvents over the past decades. However, many of them still have shortcomings, such as being difficult to recover and recycle at high efficiencies. In addition, they need to be effective across a broad range of feedstocks. Chemicals called distillable amine-based solvents could be a potential solution. Before now, few studies have tested how to use them in the most efficient manner. To test their effectiveness, researchers analyzed the performance of distillable amine-based solvents on different types of feedstocks.
The Impact
Researchers tested butylamine, a distillable amine-based solvent. They found that it performed the best for pretreatment of multiple feedstocks. Butylamine achieved high sugar yields and efficient recovery (more than 99 percent) across a wide range of feedstocks. It proved to be a versatile, consistent, and scalable solvent suitable for biorefinery applications. The results demonstrate butylamine’s potential as a cost-effective pretreatment agent. Overall, this study showed that butylamine can meet the needs of today’s biorefineries. This research paves the way for finding the best combinations of solvents and feedstocks for the biorefineries of the future.
Summary
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Joint BioEnergy Institute evaluated distillable amine-based solvents on 22 different types of biomass feedstocks. They measured how efficiently the solvents could help deconstruct the feedstocks. After screening different amine-based solvents on multiple feedstocks, researchers found butylamine had superior performance and selected it for further investigation. The researchers tested butylamine’s compatibility with various feedstocks from different regions and found it is versatile.
The scientists also examined the relationship between the amount of lignin (a rigid polymer found in plant cell walls) in biomass and how much sugar a plant yields. They examined the implications these factors could have on plants’ natural resistance to microbes breaking them down.
The researchers also analyzed three types of biomass feedstocks before and after pretreatment using butylamine. In addition, they tested the butylamine pretreatment process for its scalability. Lastly, they tested the resulting hydrolysate in bacterial and yeast strains and found it was highly compatible. Combined, these results provide important insights into how feedstock variability shapes the effectiveness of distillable amine-based solvents. It establishes them as a potential solution to some of the biggest challenges faced by commercial biorefineries.
Contact
Blake Simmons
basimmons@lbl.gov
Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Joint BioEnergy Institute
Funding
This work was supported by the DOD Tri-Service Biotechnology for a Resilient Supply Chain (T-BRSC) program; the Joint BioEnergy Institute, which is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research Program; and the Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts Process Development Unit, which is supported by DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Bioenergy Technologies Office.
Publication
Chen, X., Krishnamoorthy, A., Palasz, J. et al. Distillable amine-based solvents for effective pretreatment of multiple biomass feedstocks. Biofuel Research Journal (2025). [DOI: 10.18331/BRJ2025.12.3.4]