Glycolic Acid → Glyoxylic Acid

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

A 300-mL EZE-Seal stirred autoclave reactor (Autoclave Engineers) was charged with 100 mL of a solution containing glycolic acid (0.75M), ethylenediamine (0.86M, pH 9.0), propionic acid (0.075M, HPLC internal standard), and flavin mononucleotide (0.01 mM), and the solution cooled to 5° C. To the reactor was then added 26 g of frozen (-80° C.) Aspergillus nidulans FT17SYG/OL (24 IU glycolate oxidase and 192,000 IU catalase), and the cells were allowed to thaw at 5° C. The resulting mixture was stirred at 400 rpm and 5° C. under 120 psig of oxygen, while bubbling oxygen through the mixture at 50 mL/min. The reaction was monitored by taking a 100 μL aliquot of the reaction mixture at regular intervals, mixing the aliquot with 300 μL of 0.1N sulfuric acid to quench the reaction, filtering the aliquot and analyzing by HPLC. After 11.5 hours, the yields of glyoxylic acid, oxalic acid, and formic acid were 98%, 0%, and 0%, respectively, with complete conversion of glycolic acid. The final activities of glycolate oxidase and catalase were 100% and 62% of their initial values.

Provenance & Evidence