Catalytic amino acid production from biomass-derived intermediates
- National Univ. of Singapore (Singapore). Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Xiamen Univ., Xiamen (China). State Key Lab. for Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
- National Univ. of Singapore (Singapore). Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
- Kyoto Univ. (Japan). Graduate School of Engineering, Dept. of Molecular Engineering; Kyoto Univ. (Japan). Elements Strategy Initiative for Catalysts & Batteries
- King Abdullah Univ. of Science Technology, Thuwal (Saudi Arabia). Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Center, Physical Sciences and Engineering Division
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States). National Bioenergy Center
- Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne (Switzlerland). Inst. des Sciences et Ingenierie Chimiques
- Xiamen Univ., Xiamen (China). State Key Lab. for Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Amino acids are the building blocks for protein biosynthesis and find use in myriad industrial applications including in food for humans, in animal feed, and as precursors for bio-based plastics, among others. However, the development of efficient chemical methods to convert abundant and renewable feedstocks into amino acids has been largely unsuccessful to date. To that end, here we report a heterogeneous catalyst that directly transforms lignocellulosic biomass-derived a-hydroxyl acids into a-amino acids, including alanine, leucine, valine, aspartic acid, and phenylalanine in high yields. The reaction follows a dehydrogenation-reductive amination pathway, with dehydrogenation as the rate-determining step. Ruthenium nanoparticles supported on carbon nanotubes (Ru/CNT) exhibit exceptional efficiency compared with catalysts based on other metals, due to the unique, reversible enhancement effect of NH3 on Ru in dehydrogenation. Based on the catalytic system, a two-step chemical process was designed to convert glucose into alanine in 43% yield, comparable with the well-established microbial cultivation process, and therefore, the present strategy enables a route for the production of amino acids from renewable feedstocks. Moreover, a conceptual process design employing membrane distillation to facilitate product purification is proposed and validated. Overall, this study offers a rapid and potentially more efficient chemical method to produce amino acids from woody biomass components.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 1437219
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/JA-5100-71523
- Journal Information:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 115, Issue 20; ISSN 0027-8424
- Publisher:
- National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC (United States)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
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