Erythritol production by M oniliella megachiliensis using nonrefined glycerol waste as carbon source

Abstract

Significance and Impact of the Study: A shortage of C4 hydrocarbon depending much on naptha-oil has become urgent problem due to rapid reduction of naphtha plants together with global energy revolution. Erythritol, obtained by fermentation, is a rare C4 polyol that can be converted to C4 hydrocarbons. Erythritol is considerably expensive than hydrocarbons, a reduction in cost is critical issue. To meet this, we proposed to utilize low-cost glycerol waste from bio-diesel fuel as a carbon source. Moniliella megachiliensis successfully converted glycerol waste to erythritol. This proposal is promising to obtain C4 hydrocarbon substitute, and concomitantly to dispose a large amount of glycerol waste discharged. AbstractThe number of naphtha plants is being reduced due to a worldwide shift in energy sources. Consequently, a shortage of chemical materials heavily dependent on naphtha-oil, especially C4 compounds such as butene and butane-diol, is an urgent issue in chemical manufacturing. Erythritol is a rare C4 compound produced by fermentation processes using glucose as the carbon source. Since erythritol is considerably more expensive than hydrocarbons derived from naphtha-oil, a reduction in its cost is critical. We found that Moniliella megachiliensis, a highly osmotolerant yeast strain, can utilize nonrefined glycerol waste derived from palm oil or beef tallow and convert it to erythritol. Cell growth on glycerol was almost the same as on glucose, and the cells could grow in up to 300 mg ml À1 glycerol. When 200 mg ml À1 nonrefined glycerol was supplied, the yield of erythritol from the glycerol was approx. 60%, which is slightly higher than that obtained using glucose. The cost of glycerol waste is considerably lower than that of glucose. Thus, the conversion of glycerol waste into valuable erythritol, proposed here, is attractive and promising from the viewpoint of ensuring a supply of C4 hydrocarbons and utilizing a waste natural resource.

Preparation of Highly Active Monometallic Rhenium Catalysts for Selective Synthesis of 1,4‐Butanediol from 1,4‐Anhydroerythritol

“…Biomass is a sustainable energy source and chemical feedstock, thus has a significant role in releasing the pressures of resource shortage and global warming . Biomass‐derived compounds such as sugar alcohols, which can be obtained from cellulose or hemicellulose, are important building blocks for chemical synthesis or refinery . As chemical platforms, sugar alcohols such as glycerol, erythritol, or sorbitol contain high unwanted oxygen contents, therefore, selective oxygen removal of sugar alcohols to target alkenes or alcohols with fewer OH groups is a significant process to decrease the oxygen content and increase their value.…”

“…Although Pd is a more effective promoter for H 2 activation, Pd is also active for C=C hydrogenation and thus the product over ReO x ‐Pd/CeO 2 becomes saturated. 1,4‐Anhydroerythritol (1,4‐AHERY), which can be easily obtained from erythritol by dehydration, is often used in the DODH reaction because of its high reactivity toward DODH and its origin from biomass . The DODH product of 1,4‐AHERY is 2,5‐dihydrofuran (2,5‐DHF).…”

“…[1][2][3] Biomass-derived compounds such as sugar alcohols, which can be obtained from cellulose or hemicellulose, are important building blocks for chemicals ynthesis or refinery. [1,4,5] As chemical platforms, sugar alcohols such as glycerol, erythritol, or sorbitol contain high unwanted oxygen contents, therefore, selectiveo xygen removal of sugar alcohols to target alkeneso ra lcohols with fewer OH groups is as ignificant process to decrease the oxygen content and increase their value. [1,6,7] Hydrogenolysis is as elective oxygen removal method,w hichi so ften used to break the CÀOb ond in sugar alcohols, however,t he selectivities to target products are difficult to control,e specially when the substrates are polyols such as erythritol or sorbitol.…”

“…1,4-Anhydroerythritol (1,4-AHERY), which can be easily obtained from erythritol by dehydration, is often used in the DODH reaction because of its high reactivity toward DODH [14, 15, 19-23, 30, 31] and its origin from biomass. [4,[32][33][34] The DODH product of 1,4-AHERY is 2,5-dihydrofuran (2,5-DHF). The reactiono ver ReO x -Pd/CeO 2 gives THF.2 ,5-DHF is more reactive than THF,a nd further conversion of 2,5-DHF to useful chemicals is promising.…”

Erythritol production by yeasts: a snapshot of current knowledge

“…Similar results were obtained in M. megachiliensis , which showed yields as high as 0.60 g/g when raw glycerol was used as a carbon source. Moreover, cells grown on raw glycerol produced more erythritol as compared with pure glycerol, indicating that the impurities might have a beneficial effect on erythritol production (Kobayashi, Iwata, Mizushima, Ogihara, & Kasumi, ). These results demonstrated raw glycerol to be both a cheap and an efficient alternative to glucose, and it was used successfully in a large number of studies (Carly, Vandermies, et al, ; Mirończuk, Dobrowolski, et al, ; Tomaszewska, Rywińska, & Rymowicz, ).…”