Green routes for propene

• Grant number: 07/58336-3
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research Partnership for Technological Innovation - PITE
• Start date: August 01, 2009
• End date: July 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Chemical Process Industries
• Agreement: BRASKEM
• Principal Investigator: Gonçalo Amarante Guimarães Pereira
• Grantee: Gonçalo Amarante Guimarães Pereira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Company: Braskem S/A (Filial)
• City: Campinas

Abstract

Currently, propene is produced from fossil sources. The aim of this study is to develop new routes for propene production that use low cost renewable sources: herein green routes. For this purpose, we created a multidisciplinary group with specialists in several areas, such as molecular genetics, biotechnology, chemical synthesis, catalysis and chemical engineering. Our group will combine chemical and biotechnology tools and will explore metabolic pathways and fermentations processes to produce glycerol, latic acid (LA), propionic acid (PA) and ethanol from sugars. Besides that, we will develop engineered microorganisms capable to convert glicerol/LA/PA to isopropanol/n-propanol and then to propene. The chemical routes will develop catalytic processes from biomass gasification to synthesize methanol and dimethyl ether. Moreover the dehydration of biological propanol through acid catalysts could be used to produce propene, propionaldehyde and acetone for industrial use. The routes and the metabolic pathways established in this project will be only developed at laboratory scale, and then the most promising pathways will be expanded to pilot scale by Braskem. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ARGUESO, JUAN LUCAS; PEREIRA, GONCALO A. G.. Perspective: Indigenous sugarcane yeast strains as ideal biological platforms for the delivery of next generation biorefining technologies. INTERNATIONAL SUGAR JOURNAL, v. 112, n. 1334, p. 86-89, FEB 2010. (07/58336-3)

ARGUESO, JUAN LUCAS; CARAZZOLLE, MARCELO F.; MIECZKOWSKI, PIOTR A.; DUARTE, FABIANA M.; NETTO, OSMAR V. C.; MISSAWA, SILVIA K.; GALZERANI, FELIPE; COSTA, GUSTAVO G. L.; VIDAL, RAMON O.; NORONHA, MELLINE F.; et al. Genome structure of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain widely used in bioethanol production. Genome Research, v. 19, n. 12, p. 2258-2270, DEC 2009. (07/58336-3)