In this study, the aim was to examine bioethanol production of wheat straw residues using an alternative chemical, sodium borohydrate (NaBH4) in chemical pretreatment step. The obtained results showed that sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and NaBH4 treated straw resulted in 87.8% and 83.3% glucan conversion in enzymatic hydrolysis, but hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) (74.7%) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4) (71.7%) had lower glucan conversion. The highest ethanol yield from untreated straw (115 g/kg) was observed for 4% NaBH4 pretreated sample (60 min) and the theoretical yield (86.9%) was also calculated to be highest for the sample. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.