Green routes for propene

Abstract

Currently, propene is produced from fossil sources. The aim of this study is to develop new routes for propene production that use low cost renewable sources: herein green routes. For this purpose, we created a multidisciplinary group with specialists in several areas, such as molecular genetics, biotechnology, chemical synthesis, catalysis and chemical engineering. Our group will combine chemical and biotechnology tools and will explore metabolic pathways and fermentations processes to produce glycerol, latic acid (LA), propionic acid (PA) and ethanol from sugars. Besides that, we will develop engineered microorganisms capable to convert glicerol/LA/PA to isopropanol/n-propanol and then to propene. The chemical routes will develop catalytic processes from biomass gasification to synthesize methanol and dimethyl ether. Moreover the dehydration of biological propanol through acid catalysts could be used to produce propene, propionaldehyde and acetone for industrial use. The routes and the metabolic pathways established in this project will be only developed at laboratory scale, and then the most promising pathways will be expanded to pilot scale by Braskem. (AU)