review · Chemistry - A European Journal
Over the past four to five decades, sustainable chemistry has evolved to focus on minimising and valorising waste for the carbon-neutral manufacture of chemicals. Both chemocatalysis and biocatalysis serve central roles in this progression. Advancements in protein engineering, metagenomics, and bioinformatics have especially enabled the broader use of whole-cell and cell-free biocatalysis. In response to climate change, industries are shifting towards defossilising organic chemicals production and decarbonising energy. This change relies on green electricity, derived from solar, wind, hydro, or nuclear sources, alongside waste biomass and waste carbon dioxide feedstocks. Utilising waste polysaccharides promotes carbohydrate chemistry that converts pentoses and hexoses into base chemicals, bio-based solvents, and polymers. Additionally, low-cost electricity and solar power are fostering innovations in electro- and photo-biocatalysis.
Traditional chemical manufacturing relies heavily on fossil resources and produces substantial greenhouse gas emissions. Transitioning to renewable electricity, waste carbon dioxide, and plant-derived waste sugars allows industry to replace fossil inputs. This review of catalytic tools highlights how sustainable chemical processing can produce vital solvents, polymers, and platform chemicals while helping meet global carbon neutrality goals.
The insights apply to industrial chemical manufacturers and biotechnology firms developing bio-based polymers, solvents, and base chemicals from waste biomass and carbon dioxide. While biocatalytic tools are well-developed, integrating electro- and photo-biocatalysis with green electricity reflects an emerging field of innovation, pointing to an early-to-applied research readiness stage rather than off-the-shelf industrial adoption.
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Abstract The development of sustainable chemistry underlying the quest to minimize and/or valorize waste in the carbon‐neutral manufacture of chemicals is followed over the last four to five decades. Both chemo‐ and biocatalysis have played an indispensable role in this odyssey. in particular developments in protein engineering, metagenomics and bioinformatics over the preceding three decades have played a crucial supporting role in facilitating the widespread application of both whole cell and cell‐free biocatalysis. The pressing need, driven by climate change mitigation, for a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, has precipitated an energy transition based on decarbonization of energy and defossilization of organic chemicals production. The latter involves waste biomass and/or waste CO 2 as the feedstock and green electricity generated using solar, wind, hydroelectric or nuclear energy. The use of waste polysaccharides as feedstocks will underpin a renaissance in carbohydrate chemistry with pentoses and hexoses as base chemicals and bio‐based solvents and polymers as environmentally friendly downstream products. The widespread availability of inexpensive electricity and solar energy has led to increasing attention for electro(bio)catalysis and photo(bio)catalysis which in turn is leading to myriad innovations in these fields.
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DOI: 10.1002/chem.202402207
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