(720c) One-Step Conversion of Bioderived Hydroxy Acids to a Renewable Alkanediol

Among biomass-derived compounds that can serve as building blocks for the chemical industry, hydroxy acids are particularly attractive as it can be used for the direct production of renewable chemicals such as dienes, diacids, diols, etc.¹Visolis aims to develop a renewable process to generate a high value industrial monomer, Mevol, from a hybrid process combining fermentation of renewable feedstock to a biological, C⁶-hydroxy-acid intermediate and its catalytic upgrading to Mevol. Mevol is our first target commercial product in the specialty chemical space due to substantial industry interest in renewable polyols with applications in coatings and in the production of soft polyurethanes. Commercialization of bio-based Mevol will allow for expansion of our renewable C⁶hydroxy-acid platform to other green chemicals.

In collaboration with PNNL, Visolis has demonstrated the one-step conversion of C⁶-hydroxyacid to Mevol over a water-tolerant, acid-resistant hydrogenolysis catalyst operating at lower pressure and low temperatures with yields exceeding 90% for over 300 hours time on stream. In contrast, conventional and commercially available catalysts are poisoned by these impurities. Understanding the catalyst’s level of tolerance to impurities will relax purification constraints on the reactant feed leading to a simpler, more economical process for scale-up and commercialization and the lower H₂pressure substantially reduce CapEx requirement for plant construction. Our platform thus takes the best aspects of both approaches - the ease of obtaining renewable synthons through fermentation and subsequent catalytic upgrading of synthons - thereby achieving significant process efficiencies for renewable chemicals production allowing us to be cost-competitive with petrochemical based manufacturing.

References:

[1] C. Angelici, B. M. Weckhuysen, P. C. A. Bruijnincx, ChemSusChem 6 (2013) 1595-1614.