Comparative Analysis of Biotechnological and Catalytic Approaches to Synthesizing Organic Acids

The use of renewable resources to produce marketable chemicals is an alternative to conventional processes based on petrochemical synthesis. The main approaches to producing organic acids from glucose and cellulose as components of renewable biomass are discussed. Biotechnological approaches to producing glycolic, glutaric, mesaconic, muconic, isobutyric, lactic, 3-hydroxypropionic, succinic, itaconic, and adipic acids are compared with catalytic approaches. It is shown that the biotechnological production of succinic and lactic acids has been implemented on an industrial scale, and a number of other organic acids can be synthesized by biotechnological methods provided that the productivity of their producers is increased.