Efficiency

Synthetic biology of fine and specialty chemicals for products and intermediates in drug development, agrochemistry, and sustainable bio-manufacturing. Synbiochem uses a Design-Build-Test-Learn (D/B/T/L) pipeline in their chemical production. They design novel enzymes, pathways, and chassis; build multiple pathways in host cassis using automated assembly; test and evaluate these pathways using advanced optimized ultra high-throughput (HTP) screening and analytical methods; and learn methods to inform re-design and optimization. This pipeline allows for rapid prototyping and scalability.

Immobilization matrix for the immobilization of enzymes. Biocatalysts allow reactions with milder and safer conditions, high regioselectivity, and enantioselectivity. Enzyme immobilizations enable the recycling of enzymes, increase process efficiency, and reduce enzyme-removal steps. It also increases selectivity, stability, and activity and restricts enzyme movements, protecting the biocatalysts from harsh conditions. This product immobilizes enzymes on the surface without losing activity, facilitating the purification of the catalyst.

Production of chemical commodities through chemo-enzymatic cascade reactions. These chemo-enzymatic cascade reactions use a combination of chemical and biological catalysts for the production of basic and fine chemicals. They perform screenings of different biocatalysts to find which enzymes work best for each customer and optimize the selected enzyme to maximize sustainability and minimize cost. They also obtain substrates from renewable sources.

 

Synthesis of biodiesel and NOBS (advanced bleaching system). This company's biodiesel comes from multiple sustainable feedstocks, including inedible corn oil, used cooking oil, degummed/crude soil oil, beef tallow, and pork lard. These feedstocks do not compete with food production. This company produces 89 million gallons of biodiesel per year and has an on-site liquid waste treatment facility. NOBS is a bleach activator that performs in cold water. Traditional stain removal ingredients, such as sodium hypochlorite, contain chlorine, which corrodes washing machines and destroys fabrics.

Develops and scales continuous processes using flow chemistry technology. Continuous flow reactors save energy through increased efficiency, development speed, selectivity, and flexibility compared to conventional batch reactors. Utilizing microreactor technology also increases efficiency by decreasing mass, heat transfer length, and reaction volume. Continuous flow reactors also require fewer operational steps, improving worker safety. 

Manufacturing of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reagents. PCR is used in research, genetic engineering, forensics, infectious disease identification, food safety, and personalized medicine. The conventional production of key chemicals for PCR tests (such as deoxyribonucleotide triphosphates, or dNTP) is hazardous, inefficient, and not atom economic. This new method for the manufacturing of dNTP consists of only three steps in a single pot, eliminating hazardous reagents and solvents such as zinc chloride, triphenyl phosphine, aldrithiol, dimethyl formamide, and dichloromethane.

Uses photothermography to produce imaging technology that uses heat for medical imaging applications. The photothermography process consists of a latent image that is initially generated from the revelation of a sensitized emulsion to suitable light energy. The image is made visible by exposing it to heat. This process produces no liquid waste and does not require chemical developers and fixing solutions. This process eliminates large amounts of toxic chemicals and waste generated in traditional chemical photographic processing.

Toner made from soy and corn biomass. This toner uses polyester, polyamide, and polyurethane resins made from soy oil, protein, and carbohydrates extracted from corn. Conventional petroleum-based toners that use synthetic resins (such as styrene acrylates and styrene butadiene) are challenging to remove from papers during recycling. While toners that facilitate the de-inking process have been developed, they are much more expensive than traditional toners. Contrarily, these soy and corn-based toners have a more competitive price.