A Novel 2,5-Furandicarboxylic Acid Biosynthesis Route from Biomass-Derived 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural Based on the Consecutive Enzyme Reactions

2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is a promising bio-based building block as a green alternative to petroleum-based terephthalate in polymer production. Most of FDCA is produced by the oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), which is derived from hexose. Although the chemical conversion is widely applied, the biocatalytic conversion is expected due to the relatively mild condition and fewer toxic chemicals consumption. However, it’s difficult to catalyze the conversion of HMF to FDCA by a single enzyme. Here, a newly enzymatic cascade reaction process was introduced with a yield of 94.0% by the combination of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural oxidase (HMFO) and lipase. Briefly, a flavine adenosine dinucleotide independent (FAD-independent) HMFO of Methylovorus sp. MP688 was used to convert HMF to 2,5-diformylfuran (DFF) and 5-formylfuroic acid (FFA), which consecutively transformed to FDCA by a lipase Novozym 435. To facilitate the purification, a coupled alkali precipitation was developed to recover FDCA from organic solvent with an improved purity from 84.4 to 99.0% and recovery of 78.1%. This work will help to construct the green biorefinery route for the bulk FDCA from biomass by enzymes.