Lygos finishes malonic acid pilot-scale production using renewable resources

Lygos has completed the pilot-scale production of malonic acid using renewable resources at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's advanced bio-fuels process demonstration unit (ABPDU).

 

The new manufacturing technology is said to replace the existing petroleum production process with lower cost and less energy.

 

Malonic acid is a chemical used in various pharmaceuticals, flavours, fragrances and speciality materials.

 

Unlike the petrochemical process, which requires chloroacetic acid and sodium cyanide to produce malonic acid, Lygos' fermentation technology is claimed to be scalable, has lower carbon dioxide emissions and eliminates toxic inputs.

 

Lygos CEO Eric Steen said: "The process metrics we observed at lab-scale were successfully transitioned to pilot-scale.

"With this manufacturing run, we are able to provide samples of high-quality malonic acid to customers and partners."

 

The company is looking for new partners, to speed up large-scale manufacturing and unlock new product applications.

US Department of Energy has identified malonic acid as one of the top 30 value-added chemicals to be produced from biomass-derived sugar.

 

Lygos said that malonic acid facilitates access to $1bn of derivative speciality and commodity chemicals.

 

The pilot-scale manufacturing of malonic acid is part of a research programme partly funded by the Bioenergy Technologies Office in the US Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).

 

Lygos is an industrial biotechnology company engaged in creating processes to produce bio-chemicals.