Catalysis

One-step, environmentally friendly process for the synthesis of solid oxide catalysts. The conventional production of catalysts requires acid-base precipitation with a metal nitrate, producing large volumes of nitrate and halogenated waste and emitting NOx and SOx gases. The extraction of nitrate and other salts generates large volumes of wastewater. This novel synthetic process eliminates aqueous and nitrate waste by using an organic acid, a pure metal, and an oxidizing agent that is usually air.

Enzymatic interesterification for producing edible fats and oils that contain no trans fatty acids. Archer Daniels Midland Company and Novozymes have created enzymatic interesterification to replace chemical interestification processes. Trans fatty acids are a strong risk factor for heart disease. Trans fatty acids are formed during the hydrogenation process and are found in high concentrations in various foods. Interesterification is the most effective way to decrease trans fat content in food without adversely manipulating it.

A high-throughput cloning approach that will decrease the time taken to research and develop biocatalysts. GRASP™ and meta-GRASP™ allow high throughput genome-mining to produce new and highly diverse planes of enzymes for biocatalysis. With this technology, they have designed a Biocatalysis Enzyme Toolkit. 

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 natural ingredients through microbial fermentation processes with engineered microbes. This company produces natural ingredients through microbial fermentation with their unique and proprietary engineered microorganisms. Their products include fermented vitamins and plant-derived bioactives. They aim to replace the chemistry and unsustainable agriculture involved in food production with biology. The concentration of active ingredients in natural sources, such as plants, is very low, resulting in a fragile, expensive, and environmentally invasive supply chain.

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.

 

Olefin metathesis catalyst that converts renewable, natural oils into various products. Natural oil metathesis is a technology that transforms plant oils into high-performing, environmentally friendly specialty chemicals. This process uses a highly efficient, selective metathesis catalyst to derive value-added speacilty chemicals and olefins from natural oils. Compared to petrochemicals, this process reduces source pollution, energy consumption, production costs, and capital expenditures. The manufacturing process is low-pressure and low-temperature and can utilize virtually ant plant oil.

Biocatalytic process for the synthesis of esters. Esters are important ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products. Traditional esters manufacturing requires strong acids and potentially hazardous solvents and produces undesirable byproducts that require energy-intensive purification. Using immobilized enzymes at mild temperatures as an alternative, Eastmen saves energy and avoids dangerous chemicals. This process produces no undesirable by-products, and the enzymes are easily removable via filtration.

Enzymes and chemicals as chiral building blocks, intermediates, specialty chemicals, and recombinant enzymes. This company uses customized chemical synthesis and biocatalytic conversion to produce enzymes and chemicals as chiral building blocks, intermediates, specialty chemicals, and recombinant enzymes. These enzymes are suitable for research and development, diagnostics, and industrial production. Custom enzymes reduce complex synthesis processes into a single biocatalytic step, allowing for operation in milder conditions, product selectivity, and lower physiological toxicity.

Catalysts for the production of hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide is generally clean and environmentally friendly, but its conventional production is not. The conventional production of hydrogen peroxide uses several toxic reagents. This novel method uses a metal catalyst, NxCat, to produce hydrogen peroxide directly from oxygen and hydrogen gases and only produces water as a byproduct. The process is also cost-effective and less energy-intensive. The catalyst is also manufactured from safe and renewable feedstocks.