Exxonmobil Research and Engineering Company

Exxonmobil Technology and Engineering Company

Mohor Chatterjee

Partha Nandi

Xiaozhou Zhang

Vera Grankina

Jihad Mohammed Dakka

Mark Paul Hagemeister

Changyub Paek

Zarath M Summers

Fang Cao

Hydroxycarboxylic acids may be biosynthesized from a carbonaceous feedstock and then isolated through forming and subsequently hydrolyzing an intermediate sophorolipid. After biosynthesizing a hydroxycarboxylic acid in a cell culture medium or otherwise providing a hydroxycarboxylic acid in a first aqueous medium, the hydroxycarboxylic acid and glucose may be converted into at least one sophorolipid by a suitable microorganism or an enzyme cocktail. The at least one sophorolipid may be then be separated from the cell culture medium or first aqueous medium and then hydrolyzed in a second aqueous medium to form the hydroxycarboxylic acid and glucose as free components separate from the cell culture medium or first aqueous medium. The hydroxycarboxylic acid is present as a phase separate from the second aqueous medium and the glucose remains in the second aqueous medium.

Formation and isolation of hydroxycarboxylic acids via a sophorolipid intermediate

The present disclosure relates to glycolipid compositions, methods for making glycolipid compositions, and their uses thereof. Glycolipid compositions can be prepared via yeast-mediated catalyzed reaction, and exhibit excellent surfactant properties having high corrosion inhibition performance, good reducing surface tension efficiency. Processes of the present disclosure can provide glycolipid compositions having one or more of: a ratio of lactonic glycolipids to glycolipid acylic esters is from about 1:10 to about 10:1, a molecular weight of from about 400 g/mol to about 10,000 g/mol, a corrosion rate of carbon steel from about 0.5 MPY to about 100 MPY at room temperature and at pH 4-6. Furthermore, aqueous solutions of the glycolipid compositions of the present disclosure can have a surface tension of from about 20 mN/m to about 80 mN/m.

Glycolipid composition and method thereof

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Annandale, NJ, United States of America

Mohor Chatterjee