Heterologous mono-rhamnolipid production by Pseudomonas putida KT2440 pSynPro8oT_rhlAB using glucose as the single carbon source was characterized in fed-batch bioreactor cultivations. For the described experiments, a defined mineral salt medium was used, and a two phase glucose feeding profile was applied, which yielded a final rhamnolipid concentration of 14.9 g/L. Applying the feeding profile, glucose stayed almost constant until 28 h of cultivation and decreased afterwards to limiting levels. Until the end of cultivation 253.0 ± 0.1 g glucose was added to the bioreactor of which a total of 252.0 ± 0.6 g glucose was metabolized. By modeling the fed-batch bioreactor cultivations the time courses of generated biomass, rhamnolipid and consumed glucose were described. The model was furthermore used to derive key process parameters from the collected data. The obtained values for the specific product formation rates (qRL) reached 18 mg/(g h) and yield coefficients (YRL/S) 10 mg/g respectively.

Directing the selectivity towards one particular product in a series of consecutive reactions is challenging. Solid catalysts with an ionic liquid layer (SCILL) can be a tool to get a high selectivity of a desired intermediate. For the hydrogenation of butadiene, SCILL catalysts with palladium as active metal yield butene selectivities of up to 99 % even for full conversion of butadiene. Experimental results are presented which corroborate that the SCILL effect is mainly explained by competitive adsorption.