Resin adsorption application for product separation and catalyst recycling in coupled enzymatic catalysis to produce 1,3‐propanediol and dihydroxyacetone for repeated batch

Abstract

Glycerol can be converted to 1,3‐propanediol (1,3‐PD) and dihydroxyacetone (DHA) simultaneously by coupled enzymatic catalysis reaction with in situ cofactor regeneration. However, traditional separation methods for product extraction and catalyst (enzyme and cofactor) recycling had some drawbacks for the repeated‐batch enzymatic catalysis reaction. In this work, a new separation method based on resin adsorption was investigated and applied in the repeated‐batch enzymatic catalysis reaction for the simultaneous production of 1,3‐PD and DHA from glycerol. A type of resin, DA201, which adsorbed much more products (adsorption amount > 260 mg/g resin) than enzymes and cofactor (adsorption amount < 16 mg/g resin), was screened out and applied as an adsorbent of products. The coupled enzymatic system was actually sustained for 10 h before and after resin adsorption. The total turnover number for cofactor was 121 and the total productivity of 1,3‐PD and DHA was 0.24 g/L/h. A new method of product separation and catalyst recycling based on resin adsorption was successfully developed and could be applied in the coupled enzymatic catalysis for the production of valuable chemicals in industry.