A new process for the production of 1,5-pentanediol (1,5-PDO) from biomass-derived furfural is studied. In this process, furfural is converted to 1,5-PDO in a high overall yield (80%) over inexpensive catalysts via multiple steps involving hydrogenation, dehydration, hydration, and hydrogenation subsequently. To effectively recycle H2 as well as recover 1,5-PDO, detailed separation subsystems have been designed and integrated with reaction subsystems. Furthermore, a pioneer plant analysis is performed to estimate the risk on the cost growth and plant performance shortfalls. The integrated process leads to a minimum selling price of $1973 ton–1 for 1,5-PDO, which suggests that it could be a promising approach for converting biomass into oxygenated commodity chemicals, which are difficult to produce from petroleum-derived feedstocks. The sensitivity analysis also identifies that the most important economic parameters for the process include the furfural feedstock price and plant size.
A process for the synthesis of 1,5-pentanediol (1,5-PD) with 84 % yield from furfural is developed, utilizing dehydration/hydration, ring-opening tautomerization, and hydrogenation reactions. Although this process has more reaction steps than the traditional direct hydrogenolysis of tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA), techno-economic analyses demonstrate that this process is the economically preferred route for the synthesis of biorenewable 1,5-PD. 2-Hydroxytetrahydropyran (2-HY-THP) is the key reaction pathway intermediate that allows for a decrease in the minimum selling price of 1,5-PD. The reactivity of 2-HY-THP is 80 times greater than that of THFA over a bimetallic hydrogenolysis catalyst. This enhanced reactivity is a result of the ring-opening tautomerization to 5-hydoxyvaleraldehyde and subsequent hydrogenation to 1,5-PD.
Bacterial therapies, designed to manufacture therapeutic proteins directly within tumors, could eliminate cancers that are resistant to other therapies. To be effective, a payload protein must be secreted, diffuse through tissue, and efficiently kill cancer cells. To date, these properties have not been shown for a single protein. The gene for Staphylococcus aureus α-hemolysin (SAH), a pore-forming protein, was cloned into Escherichia coli. These bacteria were injected into tumor-bearing mice and volume was measured over time. The location of SAH relative to necrosis and bacterial colonies was determined by immunohistochemistry. In culture, SAH was released and killed 93% of cancer cells in 24 hours. Injection of SAH-producing bacteria reduced viable tissue to 9% of the original tumor volume. By inducing cell death, SAH moved the boundary of necrosis toward the tumor edge. SAH diffused 6.8 ± 0.3 µm into tissue, which increased the volume of affected tissue from 48.6 to 3,120 µm(3). A mathematical model of molecular transport predicted that SAH efficacy is primarily dependent on colony size and the rate of protein production. As a payload protein, SAH will enable effective bacterial therapy because of its ability to diffuse in tissue, kill cells, and expand tumor necrosis.
We show that supported Ni, Pt, and Pd catalysts used for liquid phase hydrogenation are inhibited by the biogenic impurities present in biologically-derived feedstocks used to produce high-value chemicals. The effects of thiamine HCl, cysteine, methionine, biotin, tryptophan, niacin, threonine, and p-aminobenzoic acid were elucidated by collecting adsorption isotherms of these species and by quantifying their influence on the rate of cyclohexene hydrogenation at 323 K. Inhibition increases in the order of Pd \ Pt \ Ni and generally correlates with the binding energies of sulfur and nitrogen. The equilibrium constants reported here for adsorption of these species on Ni, Pt, and Pd can facilitate the design of separation systems and new catalysts used for upgrading biologically-produced platform molecules.
Catalytic strategies for the synthesis of 1,5-pentanediol (PDO) with 69% yield from hemicellulose and the synthesis of 1,6-hexanediol (HDO) with 28% yield from cellulose are presented. Fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass (white birch wood chips) in gamma-valerolactone (GVL)/HO generates a pure cellulose solid and a liquid stream containing hemicellulose and lignin, which is further dehydrated to furfural with 85% yield. Furfural is converted to PDO with sequential dehydration, hydration, ring-opening tautomerization, and hydrogenation reactions. Acid-catalyzed cellulose dehydration in tetrahydrofuran (THF)/HO produces a mixture of levoglucosenone (LGO) and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), which are converted with hydrogen to tetrahydrofuran-dimethanol (THFDM). HDO is then obtained from hydrogenolysis of THFDM. Techno-economic analysis demonstrates that this approach can produce HDO and PDO at a minimum selling price of $4090 per ton.
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