POLY 348 |
| This will be a two-part presentation to describe two of Dupont's bioprocesses to useful monomers: functional aromatics and 1,3-propanediol. The first presentation will describe a process that explored the conversion of glucose to aromatic products para-hydroxycinnamic acid (pHCA) and hydroxystyrene monomer (HSM) by way of the tyrosine biosynthetic pathway. In the single organism fermentation processes we encountered product-induced cell toxicity that limited product titers. To overcome this challenge, we pursued biocatalytic routes where tyrosine production was decoupled from the deamination and decarboxylation steps. PHCA and HSM were prepared to titers of ca. 40 g/L and 20 g/L, respectively in single step biocatalytic conversions that involved either whole cells or crude enzyme extracts. In the second part of the presentation we will describe the technical strategy to construct the E. coli biocatalyst to produce the monomer, 1,3-propanediol. 1,3-Propanediol is a key monomer for the production of Sorona® polymer. We will provide several specific examples of technical accomplishments that resulted in dramatic improvements in the biocatalyst performance. The 1,3-propanediol titer was elevated from 5 g/L to > 130 g/L and the carbon yield based on glucose was increased to ~51% g/g. |
|
Biocatalysis in Polymer Science
8:30 AM-11:50 AM, Tuesday, 12 September 2006 San Francisco Marriott -- Salon 12/13, Oral
Division of Polymer Chemistry |