MP1: a novel enzyme for bio-manufacturing Adipic Acid

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**PROBLEM:** Adipic acid (ADP; aka hexanedioic acid) is an important chemical. It is used for manufacturing many common materials including polyurethanes, plasticisers used in PVC production, and Nylon 6,6 (which consumes ~75% of all ADP made).ADP is manufactured via a multi-step reaction:* Benzene is reduced to cyclohexane at high-pressures and high temperatures using a catalyst (e.g., Ni/Al2O3) and a hydrogen feed.* Cyclohexane is oxidized using air plus a metal catalyst (e.g., cobalt) to generate a cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol mixture (KA oil).* KA oil is oxidized with nitric oxide and copper/ammonium metavanadate to produce ADP \[conversion yield ~95%\].Industrial ADP manufacturing causes significant environmental problems:* Around 10% of global nitric oxide (NOx) emissions are from ADP production.* The benzene feedstock is a non-renewable petroleum compound and volatile carcinogen.* Spent metal catalysts create toxic waste streams.**OPPORTUNITY:** Mellizyme are engineering a novel enzyme 'MP1' and have recently identified that it exhibits activity that enables the conversion of cyclohexane to ADP in air, enabling a greener ADP manufacturing method.**KEY PROJECT OBJECTIVES:** Deploy synthetic biology approaches to engineer MP1 to increase its thermostability, conversion rate speed, and diminish the formation of unwanted by-products. The project outputs will help Mellizyme to plan a future collaborative industrial demonstrator project showing how MP1 can be used at-scale for industrial ADP manufacturing.**STATE-OF-THE-ART LIMITATIONS*** Chemosynthetic methods of ADP manufacture suffer low conversion rates of cyclohexane and selectivity issues, leading to the formation of diacid contaminants, posing purification problems.* Catalytic degradation of NOx requires additional capital and energy expenditures.* Biomass-derived routes frequently require expensive precious metal catalysts.**MP1 INNOVATIONS/USPs*** MP1 works at atmospheric pressure and at a lower temperature than existing methods. This significantly reduces the energy requirement for ADP manufacturing using MP1 when compared to the high-pressures and high temperatures needed for the usual routes by which ADP is manufactured.* MP1 removes the need for metal catalysts, preserving rare metals, and stopping toxic metal waste formation.* Zero NOx production, supporting net zero targets.