14 TSB-ACT-1R Biotechnology for Anti-Weeds (BAW)

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The project aim is to establish an economic technology to support a UK-based supply chain for the production of the novel herbicide Sorgoleone. There is currently no green "nature identical" herbicide on the market, and the major classes of commercially available products are now in the mature phase of their life-cycle. Sorgoleone, a powerful allelopathic chemical, is currently produced by plants in minute concentration. This project seeks to develop a commerically viable biotech synthesis route using a plant based starting material (available in thousands of tonnes). The project will develop a UK-based supply chain aimed at producing and selling the chemical. The lead organisation, Hockley International, an UK based SME in the agrochemical market has developed, through a TSB funded KTP, a methodology for the synthesis of the saturated component of sorgoleone using a widely available natural resorcinolic lipid. Hockley has now a patented approach to selectively extract the resorcinolic precursor of the target anti-weed molecule from cashew nut shell liquid (a non-valorised sub-product of the cashew kernel production available in 100,000 tons). Hockley's current chemical process is a five step route involving an oxidation with chromium. This funding will allow investigation into the possible reduction of the five steps to a two or three-step route via a cytochrome P450 enzymatic oxidation and enzymatic methylation. Field testing of the nature-identical synthetic molecules will also be undertaken to estimate its efficacy and applications rates.