MICROBIAL BIOCATALYSIS - SYNTHESIS OF ADIPIC ACID FROM D-GLUCOSE

Four billion pounds of adipic acid are produced each year using petroleum-based feedstocks, carcinogenic benzene as starting material, and extreme reaction conditions. Nitrous oxide, which plays a role in ozone layer depletion, is emitted as a byproduct. As an alternative to the currently employed synthetic methodology, a two-step synthesis of adipic acid from D-glucose has been developed which eliminates each of these problems. A microbial catalyst was created which possesses a novel biosynthetic pathway that synthesizes cis, cis-muconic acid from D-glucose. This pathway does not occur in nature but has been created in a strain of Escherichia coli. Cis, cis-muconic acid is exported to the culture supernatant, where it is hydrogenated under mild conditions to yield adipic acid.