The ability to synthesize chemical products from renewable feedstocks is key component of a sustainable future. Here, we describe a new chemical catalysis-based strategy for expanding the scope of products available from unmodified microorganisms. We combine the unique oxidative metabolism of Gluconobacter oxidans with a biocompatible lysine organocatalyst to dimerize aliphatic alcohols to α,β-unsaturated aldehydes in aqueous buffer at 28°C. This hybrid one-pot process works with a range of C2−C6 alcohol substrates and yields homodimers and crossed aldol products. Though G. oxidans typically oxidizes alcohols to their carboxylic acids, we show that the inclusion of the organocatalyst intercepts the microbially produced aldehyde and, instead, redirects it to an aldol condensation product. Taken together, our work reveals a new strategy to expand the scope of products from biosynthetic processes.

Combining chemical catalysis and whole cell microbial biocatalysis for single-flask synthesis of industrial chemicals

ACS Fall 2021

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