Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content

Combining biological and chemical approaches for green synthesis of chemicals

  • Pooja Jambunathan
  • , Kechun Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

Recent advances have allowed semi-synthetic production of complex pharmaceutical compounds and commodity chemicals by combining chemical and biological approaches. This approach offers several advantages including synthesis of chirally pure precursors for drugs, design of greener and more sustainable production routes for commodity chemicals by eliminating the use of hazardous chemicals and generation of waste and improving overall process efficiencies by reducing total number of steps involved in synthesis. In this review, we will discuss in detail the synthesis of three pharmaceuticals - simvastatin, artemisinin, and warfarin - and two commodity chemicals - β-methyl-δ-valerolactone and butadiene, all of which have wide applications in the pharmaceutical and polymer industry.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number253
Pages (from-to)35-41
Number of pages7
JournalCurrent Opinion in Chemical Engineering
Volume10
DOIs
StatePublished - 2015

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Center for Sustainable Polymers CHE-1413862 .

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
    SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
  2. SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
    SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Combining biological and chemical approaches for green synthesis of chemicals'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this