Conversion of renewable resources to the chemicals and materials needed for our consumer products represents an exciting challenge for catalysis science. BioAmber currently produces succinic acid from corn sugar at its Sarnia, Ontario plant and is interested in producing additional bio-based chemical products. Here we discuss our initial progress on synthesis of C6 diacids from the sugar fermentation intermediate homocitric acid lactone using supported heterogeneous catalysts in water. Using rapid-throughput catalysis testing we have identified several promising catalysts for this process that yield different amounts of the three C6 diacids: adipate, 2-methylglutarate and 2-ethylsuccinate. We propose that the process involves a relay of four different chemical reactions: dehydration, alkene isomerization, decarboxylation and alkene hydrogenation. DFT studies have been initiated in order to correlate catalyst structure with activity and selectivity.

C6 diacids from homocitric acid lactone using relay heterogeneous catalysis

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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