Genomatica, Inc.

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation

Toray Industries, Inc.

Warren Clark

Mark Joseph Burk

Michael Japs

Katsushige Yamada

Takayuki Suzuki

Masaru Utsunomiya

Yusuke Izawa

Norikazu Konishi

Shinichiro Matsuzono

Kota Tanaka

Masateru Ito

Kenji Kawamura

Satoshi Sakami

Izumi Morita

Shinichirou Matsuzono

Masataka Makino

Oliver A Bell

A process of isolating 1,4-butanediol (1,4-BDO) from a fermentation broth includes separating a liquid fraction enriched in 1,4-BDO from a solid fraction comprising cells, removing water from said liquid fraction, removing salts from said liquid fraction, and purifying 1,4-BDO. A process for producing 1,4-BDO includes culturing a 1,4-BDO-producing microorganism in a fermentor for a sufficient period of time to produce 1,4-BDO. The 1,4-BDO-producing microorganism includes a microorganism having a 1,4-BDO pathway having one or more exogenous genes encoding a 1,4-BDO pathway enzyme and/or one or more gene disruptions. The process for producing 1,4-BDO further includes isolating 1,4-BDO.

Process of separating components of a fermentation broth

An object of the present invention is to provide high-quality 1,4BG capable of working out to a raw material of PBT with good color tone, by efficiently removing and refining impurities mixed when producing a biomass-derived 1,4BG on an industrial scale and the present invention relates to a production method of refined 1,4BG, where a crude 1,4BG-containing solution is obtained from refined raw material 1,4BG obtained by removing bacterial cells, salt contents and water from the fermentation culture medium, through a step of removing high-boiling-point components and/or low-boiling-point components by distillation and/or a step of converting an unsaturated compound to a hydride and the target product is obtained as a side stream in a further distillation step.

Production method for 1,4-butanediol

At the time of producing a polyester by using a dicarboxylic acid component and a biomass-resource-derived diol as raw materials, a polyester is efficiently produced with good color tone, as the raw material diol derived from biomass resources, a diol in which the content of a cyclic carbonyl compound having a carbon atom number of 5 or 6 is from 0.01 to 12 ppm by mass, is used, and by controlling the content of a cyclic carbonyl compound having a carbon atom number of 5 or 6 in the raw material diol to fall in a prescribed range, the color tone of the polyester is improved.

Production methods of polyester and polyurethane

The present invention aims to provide a method for producing polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) with an excellent color using biomass-derived 1,4-butanediol (BG). The invention relates to a method for producing PBT comprising a step of subjecting a diol component containing raw material 1,4-BG having a nitrogen content of 0.01 to 50 ppm by mass and a dicarboxylic acid component to esterification or ester-exchange reaction, and a polycondensation reaction step for obtaining PBT from the reactant, wherein the content of gamma butyrolactone in the raw material 1,4-BG is 1 to 100 ppm by mass.

Method for producing polybutylene terephthalate

A process produces 1,4-butanediol by purifying 1,4-butanediol originated from a fermentation broth, by which process 1,4-butanediol having properties suited as a material of producing a polyester is obtained, which 1,4-butanediol enables to reduce by-production of tetrahydrofuran during the esterification reaction and to reduce the delay in polymerization. The process of producing 1,4-butanediol includes adding an alkaline substance other than an ammonia or an amine to an aqueous 1,4-butanediol-containing solution originated from a fermentation broth; distilling the resulting mixture; and recovering a 1,4-butanediol-containing solution from the vapor flow.

Process of producing 1,4-butanediol

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Yale, OK, United States of America

Warren Clark