Significant progress in biocatalytic upgrading of biomass-derived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) has been made by Zong’s group in our school recently. HMF was recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as one of “Top 10 + 4” bio-based chemicals. It could be upgraded into various useful chemicals, due to the presence of active groups. 2,5-Bis(hydroxymethyl)furan (BHMF) that is the hydrogenation product of the formyl group in HMF is a versatile building block for the synthesis of polymers, drugs, macrocycle polyether compounds and crown ethers. To date, BHMF was synthesized mainly via chemical reduction of HMF. Although biocatalysisis superior to chemical methods because of a number of advantages such as environmental friendliness and excellent selectivity,biocatalytic reduction of HMF to BHMF is still a great challenge, since the substrate HMF is a well-known potent inhibitor to microorganisms.
Recently, Dr. Ning Li and Prof. Min-Hua Zonghave isolated a highly HMF-tolerant yeast strain - Meyerozymaguilliermondii SC1103, and studied its catalytic performance for the reduction of HMF to BHMF. It was found thatthe yeast was highly tolerant to both HMF (up to 110 mM) and BHMF (up to 200 mM). In addition, 100 mM HMF could be selectively reduced to BHMF in 12 h by its resting cells, with the yield of 86% and selectivity of >99%. BHMF up to 191 mM was synthesized in 24.5 h by a fed-batch strategy with the productivity of approximately 24 g/L d, which is promising to envisage an industrially sound biocatalytic process for HMF reduction. Due to its novelty and high scientific quality, this work has been accepted by Editor-in-Chief for its publication in the Front Cover ofChemSusChem (2017, 10: 372-378;IF: 7.12). In addition, Zong’s group has applied a relevant international patent (PCT/CN2016/110022).
(By Lining)
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cssc.201601426/full
