From Microbial Succinic Acid Production to Polybutylene Bio-Succinate Synthesis

Abstract

A simplified and scalable one-pot process for the anaerobic production of succinic acid using a metabolically engineered Corynebacterium glutamicum strain is demonstrated. With targeted bioprocess optimization, succinic acid titer of 78 g L−1 and yield of 1.41 molSAmolGLC−1 were achieved. Succinic acid was recovered from the neutral fermentation broth by electrochemically induced crystallization and applied for polybutylene bio-succinate synthesis using a biocompatible zinc catalyst. Except for a slight color change, the final biopolymer was comparable to the polymer from commercial precursors.