Microbial degradation of furanic compounds: biochemistry, genetics, and impact

Microbial metabolism of furanic compounds, especially furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), is rapidly gaining interest in the scientific community. This interest can largely be attributed to the occurrence of toxic furanic aldehydes in lignocellulosic hydrolysates. However, these compounds are also widespread in nature and in human processed foods, and are produced in industry. Although several microorganisms are known to degrade furanic compounds, the variety of species is limited mostly to Gram-negative aerobic bacteria, with a few notable exceptions. Furanic aldehydes are highly toxic to microorganisms, which have evolved a wide variety of defense mechanisms, such as the oxidation and/or reduction to the furanic alcohol and acid forms. These oxidation/reduction reactions constitute the initial steps of the biological pathways for furfural and HMF degradation. Furfural degradation proceeds via 2-furoic acid, which is metabolized to the primary intermediate 2-oxoglutarate. HMF is converted, via 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid, into 2-furoic acid. The enzymes in these HMF/furfural degradation pathways are encoded by eight hmf genes, organized in two distinct clusters in Cupriavidus basilensis HMF14. The organization of the five genes of the furfural degradation cluster is highly conserved among microorganisms capable of degrading furfural, while the three genes constituting the initial HMF degradation route are organized in a highly diverse manner. The genetic and biochemical characterization of the microbial metabolism of furanic compounds holds great promises for industrial applications such as the biodetoxifcation of lignocellulosic hydrolysates and the production of value-added compounds such as 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid

Mono-, bi-, and tri-metallic Ni-based catalysts for the catalytic hydrotreatment of pyrolysis liquids

Catalytic hydrotreatment is a promising technology to convert pyrolysis liquids into intermediates with improved properties. Here, we report a catalyst screening study on the catalytic hydrotreatment of pyrolysis liquids using bi- and tri-metallic nickel-based catalysts in a batch autoclave (initial hydrogen pressure of 140 bar, 350 A degrees C, 4 h). The catalysts are characterized by a high nickel metal loading (41 to 57 wt%), promoted by Cu, Pd, Mo, and/or combination thereof, in a SiO2, SiO2-ZrO2, or SiO2-Al2O3 matrix. The hydrotreatment results were compared with a benchmark Ru/C catalyst. The results revealed that the monometallic Ni catalyst is the least active and that particularly the use of Mo as the promoter is favored when considering activity and product properties. For Mo promotion, a product oil with improved properties viz. the highest H/C molar ratio and the lowest coking tendency was obtained. A drawback when using Mo as the promoter is the relatively high methane yield, which is close to that for Ru/C. H-1, C-13-NMR, heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC), and two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC) of the product oils reveal that representative component classes of the sugar fraction of pyrolysis liquids like carbonyl compounds (aldehydes and ketones and carbohydrates) are converted to a large extent. The pyrolytic lignin fraction is less reactive, though some degree of hydrocracking is observed

Renewable hydrogen and carbon nanotubes from biodiesel waste glycerol

In this report, we introduce a novel and commercially viable method to recover renewable hydrogen and carbon nanotubes from waste glycerol produced in the biodiesel process. Gas-phase catalytic reforming converts glycerol to clean hydrogen fuel and by replacing the problematical coke formed on the catalyst with high value carbon nanotubes, added value can be realised. Additional benefits of around 2.8 kg CNTs from the reforming of 1 tonne of glycerol and the production of 500 Nm3 H2 could have a considerable impact on the economics of glycerol utilization. Thereby, the contribution of this research will be a significant step forward in solving a current major technical and economic challenge faced by the biofuels industry