Bio-derived Feedstocks for Sustainable, UK-Based Manufacture of Chemicals and Pharmaceutical Intermediates

化学和制药工业目前依赖于石化衍生的中间体来合成各种有价值的产品。石油化工储量的减少，以及对成本和温室气体排放的担忧，正在推动人们寻找有机合成物的可再生资源。该项目旨在建立一系列新技术，以具有成本效益和可持续的方式从甜菜浆（SBP）合成一系列化学品。英国在SBP的生产和加工方面是自给自足的，SBP是甜菜生产（每年种植800万吨）和加工的副产品。目前，SBP是在一个能源密集型的过程中干燥的，然后用于动物饲料。因此，将SBP转化为化学品和医药中间体的能力将具有显著的经济和环境效益。SBP是一种复杂的原料，富含碳水化合物（占重量的近80%）。碳水化合物由三种生物聚合物组成，比例大致相等；纤维素，半纤维素和果胶。如果要使SBP的加工具有成本效益，就有必要找到每种物质的用途。在这里，我们提出了一种生物精炼方法，用于选择性地分解所有三种聚合物，纯化分解化合物，并将其用于合成一系列附加值产品，如特种化学品，药品和可生物降解聚合物。众所周知，纤维素可以分解成己糖并发酵成乙醇用于生物燃料。在这里，我们将重点介绍半乳糖醛酸（从果胶中）和阿拉伯糖（从半纤维素中）的释放，以及它们通过化学或酶的方式转化为增值产品。我们还将利用合成生物学的新原理来探索代谢工程微生物细胞的可行性，以同时分解聚合饲料材料并在单个集成过程中合成所需产品，如芳香族化合物。在进行这项研究时，我们将采用一种整体的、系统主导的方法来进行生物炼制的设计和操作。计算机建模工具将用于评估原材料、水和能源的利用效率。然后将采用经济和生命周期分析方法来确定最具成本效益和无害环境的产品和过程组合。该项目得到了一系列工业合作伙伴的支持，从原材料生产商到中间技术提供商以及最终用户化学和制药公司。这对于提供有关将可再生资源纳入其当前产品组合的商业和社会经济见解至关重要。公司合作伙伴还将为项目成果的大规模验证及其最终过渡到商业制造提供材料和设备资源。

The chemical and pharmaceutical industries are currently reliant on petrochemical derived intermediates for the synthesis of a wide range of valuable products. Decreasing petrochemical reserves and concerns over costs and greenhouse gas emissions are now driving the search for renewable sources of organic synthons. This project aims to establish a range of new technologies to enable the synthesis of a range of chemicals from sugar beet pulp (SBP) in a cost-effective and sustainable manner. The UK is self-sufficient in the production of SBP which is a by-product of sugar beet production (8 million tonnes grown per year) and processing. Currently SBP is dried in an energy intensive process and then used for animal feed. The ability to convert SBP into chemicals and pharmaceutical intermediates will therefore have significant economic and environmental benefits.SBP is a complex feedstock rich in carbohydrate (nearly 80% by weight). The carbohydrate is made up of roughly equal proportions of 3 biological polymers; cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin. If the processing of SBP is to be cost-effective it will be necessary to find uses for each of these substances. Here we propose a biorefinery approach for the selective breakdown of all 3 polymers, purification of the breakdown compounds and their use to synthesise a range of added value products such as speciality chemicals, pharmaceuticals and biodegradable polymers. It is already well known that cellulose can be broken down into hexose sugars and fermented to ethanol for use in biofuels. Here we will focus on the release of galacturonic acid (from pectin) and arabinose (from hemicellulose) and their conversion, by chemical or enzymatic means, into added value products. We will also exploit the new principles of Synthetic Biology to explore the feasibility of metabolically engineering microbial cells to simultaneously breakdown the polymeric feed material and synthesise a desired product, such as aromatic compounds, in a single integrated process. In conducting this research we will adopt a holistic, systems-led, approach to biorefinery design and operation. Computer-based modelling tools will be used to assess the efficiency of raw material, water and energy utilisation. Economic and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) approaches will then be employed to identify the most cost-effective and environmentally benign product and process combinations. The project is supported by a range of industrial partners from raw material producer to intermediate technology providers and end-user chemical and pharmaceutical companies. This is crucial in providing business and socio-economic insights regarding the adoption of renewable resources into their current product portfolios. The company partners will also provide the material and equipment resources for the large-scale verification of project outcomes and their ultimate transition into commercial manufacture.