A two-step biocatalytic cascade to obtain aldaric acids by selective oxidation of common monosaccharides

Poster and abstract
Interest in organic acids derived from sugars has increased in recent years as part of efforts to develop biorefineries that produce not only biofuels, but also chemicals. Some of these acids, such as D-gluconic acid, are already produced and used on an industrial scale, others such as D-glucaric acid, are produced on a small scale [2] due to the moderate yield and low selectivity, the reaction also generates a significant amount of environmentally hazardous NOX gases as side products by oxidation of D-glucose with nitric acid, D-glucaric acid has been obtained also by oxidation of D-glucose using nitric acid or metal catalysts, typically palladium or platinum.
In this study, we developed a biocatalytic process for the conversion of glucose to glucaric acid. The process consists of a two-step enzymatic cascade, with in situ enzymatic regeneration of the oxidation chemocatalyst.