Azelaic
acid is an α,ω-dicarboxylic acid with nine
carbons and has multiple applications in plastic and cosmetic industries.
Chemical oxidation of oleic acid with ozone (called ozonolysis) allows
the production of azelaic acid and a major byproduct of nonanoic acid.
To increase the total yield of azelaic acid in the ozonolysis, in
this study, sustainable biotransformation process using a whole cell
biocatalyst was developed to directly convert nonanoic acid and its
esters to azelaic acid. Candida tropicalis ATCC20962 immediately cleaved ethyl nonanoate to nonanoic acid after
ethyl nonanoate addition, and then converted nonanoic acid into azelaic
acid with the aid of nonane addition and continuous glucose supply.
Finally, a fed-batch biotransformation by continuous feeding of pure
nonanoic acid resulted in the production of 30.1 g/L azelaic acid
with 0.30 g/L-h productivity and 90% molar yield. By combination of
the ozonolysis and our process, a maximum of 95% molar carbon yield
of azelaic acid from oleic acid was estimated. This is the first report
that nonanoic acid and its esters were directly biotransformed to
azelaic acid with over 90% yield, and would be a groundwork for the
biotransformation of fatty acids with under nine carbons to the corresponding
α,ω-dicarboxylic acids.
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