Succinic Acid: Technology Development and Commercialization

Abstract

Succinic acid is a precursor of many important, large-volume industrial chemicals and consumer products. It was once common knowledge that many ruminant microorganisms accumulated succinic acid under anaerobic conditions. However, it was not until the discovery of Anaerobiospirillum succiniciproducens at the Michigan Biotechnology Institute (MBI), which was capable of producing succinic acid up to about 50 g/L under optimum conditions, that the commercial feasibility of producing the compound by biological processes was realized. Other microbial strains capable of producing succinic acid to high final concentrations subsequently were isolated and engineered, followed by development of fermentation processes for their uses. Processes for recovery and purification of succinic acid from fermentation broths were simultaneously established along with new applications of succinic acid, e.g., production of biodegradable deicing compounds and solvents. Several technologies for the fermentation-based production of succinic acid and the subsequent conversion to useful products are currently commercialized. This review gives a summary of the development of microbial strains, their fermentation, and the importance of the down-stream recovery and purification efforts to suit various applications in the context of their current commercialization status for biologically derived succinic acid.

Fumaric Acid Production: A Biorefinery Perspective

“…Chemicals from biomass, as succinic or fumaric acid, are thus, platform chemicals that have the potential to complement and even replace petrochemicals as monomers in the polymer industry. However, although succinic acid is now known to have an adequate price (1.17 $/kg) in comparison to its petrochemical counterpart (2.86 $/kg) for the Myriant process [91], fumaric acid is only produced at the present time from benzene or from butanes. Using as reference the lonely LCA analysis performed for succinic acid and, in particular, for Myriant's process, it can be envisaged that bioprocesses to fumaric acid will be, in the worst scenario, as sustainable as the process of the reference is, with a worse use of raw materials (if compared to the petrochemical counterparts), but a much better use of energy and a high reduction in the global warming potential (GWP).…”

Biotic and Abiotic Synthesis of Renewable Aliphatic Polyesters from Short Building Blocks Obtained from Biotechnology

“…[10,55] Currently,d ifferent companies have constructed industrial facilities for the production of biobased SA, such as BioAmber,S uccinity,R everdia,a nd Myriant. [56] However,t he future development and construction of new facilities is currently being discussed. [56] However,t he future development and construction of new facilities is currently being discussed.…”

“…[38] Actually,t he globalc apacity of biobased SA from the four previously cited companies is about 66 500 tons per year. [56] However,t he future development and construction of new facilities is currently being discussed. BioAmber is planning to build as econd plant in North America to double its current capacity up to 63 500 tons per year.Athird plant is being planned in Thailand in ap artnership with PTT-MCC Biochem.M yriant planned to build an ew plant with ac apacity of 110000 tons per year in Nanjing (PR China) in collaborationw ith China National Blue-Star.High interest in SA is based on its wide range of applicationsa sabuilding block for the synthesis of polyesters or resins, [57] or as ap latform molecule.…”

In vitroprototyping and rapid optimization of biosynthetic enzymes for cellular design

“…Yet, many industrial bioprocesses (e.g., synthesis of amino acids, 5 organic acids, [6][7][8] solvents 9,10 ) rely on non-model organisms as they offer exceptional substrate and metabolite diversity, as well as tolerance to metabolic end-products and contaminants, making them excellent chassis for biochemical production of exotic molecules from an array of possible feedstocks. Clostridia specifically were used industrially in acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentations in the early-to-mid 20 th century because of their unique solventogenic metabolism to produce large amounts of solvents (e.g., acetone and butanol) but were eventually phased out of use due to the success of petroleum until recently.…”