|
Oral
Presentation 7-01 New
Chemicals and Polymers from Renewable Resources Joseph
J. Bozell, Stephen Kelley, Wanxuan Kang, Darrin Miller, and Mark Davis National
Renewable Energy Laboratory 1617
Cole Boulevard Golden,
CO 80401 Telephone: (303) 384-6276; Fax: (303) 384-6103; Email: joe_bozell@nrel.gov Biochemical pathways offer a rich source of new
biomass-derived building blocks. For
example, the well known citric acid cycle is the central process in cellular
respiration, and proceeds through 2-ketoglutaric acid (2-KGA) as a key
intermediate. In most organisms, 2-KGA is a relatively transient intermediate
in the metabolic process. However, some organisms do not possess a complete
cycle, and stop at 2-KGA, allowing it to accumulate. Certain bacteria have been
described as useful for the production of 2-KGA. In addition, 2-KGA is an
intermediate in the fermentative production of MSG, a large scale commercial
bioproduct. We wish to describe our preliminary results in the use of 2-KGA as
a monomer in the production of new polyesters, and as a starting material for
the synthesis of new renewables-based chemical building blocks. Synthetic
approaches to the monomers and polymers, as well as preliminary mechanistic
results for the polymerization process, will be described.
|