Theoretical kinetic study for methyl levulinate: oxidation by OH and CH3 radicals and further unimolecular decomposition pathways.

Biofuels may represent a promising alternative in terms of energy sustainability and emission control. Until recently, simple compounds including only a single specific functional group was in the focus of the biofuel research while reported data on more complex structures are scarcer. Presence of multiple functional groups can make molecules more attractive for oxidative species providing attacking site for fast oxidation. Including both a carbonyl and an ester group, methyl levulinate (ML) can be such an excellent biofuel candidate due to its cellulosic origin, although its combustion kinetics is still unresolved. This work reports the first computational kinetic study on methyl levulinate oxidation relevant to combustion conditions. Absolute rate constants for H-abstraction reactions by OH and CH3 radicals were calculated using the G3//MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ level of theory coupled with Transition State Theory (TST). The fate of the forming ML radicals was also investigated by computing absolute rate constants for ß-scission as well as for H-transfer reactions. The outcomes of this work show that the sites between the two functional groups are the most favorable for H-abstraction reactions, and that methyl vinyl ketone (MVK) and methyl acrylate (MAC) are expected to be the main intermediate products of methyl levulinate oxidation. The present results will be useful for further detailed kinetic modeling.

Anaerobic stress in germinating castor bean, ethanol metabolism, and effects on subcellular organelles.

Endosperms from castor beans (Ricinus communis) germinated for 0 to 6 days were exposed to anoxia for 0 to 15 hours. Ethanol, the only alcohol detected by gas chromatography in the tissue, accumulates to a concentration of 15 millimolar during the first 2 to 4 hours of anoxia and subsequently decreases. The absolute amount of ethanol varies from 10 micromoles per 5-day endosperm after 4 hours anoxia to less than 1 micromole in 2-day endosperm after 4 hours. Lactate content is 2 micromoles or less per endosperm. Alcohol dehydrogenase and pyruvate decarboxylase activities, which are localized in cytosolic fractions, are not greatly affected by anoxia. The recoveries of the marker enzymes and protein in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondrial fractions decrease during anoxia. After 15 hours, the recovery of NADPH cytochrome c reductase is 15% of that in controls, fumarase is 50%, and catalase is 75%.Glyoxysomes and ER are capable of converting ethanol to acetaldehyde which was measured using the fluorogenic reagent, 5,5-dimethyl-1,3-cyclohexanedione. The glyoxysomal activity is dependent on a hydrogen peroxide-generating substrate and the ER is dependent on NADPH. However, these activities are less than 3% of the alcohol dehydrogenase activity.