US food processing company Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) has signed an agreement to license bio-based glucaric acid technology from the UK’s Johnson Matthey and US bio-based chemicals company Rennovia. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The process, jointly developed between Johnson Matthey and Rennovia, is said to combine the efficiency and selectivity of heterogeneous catalytic technology with renewable feedstocks to produce bio-based glucaric acid. “We see a strong synergy in leveraging Rennovia’s breakthrough catalyst technology along with the process scale-up capabilities of Johnson Matthey to shorten the time frame needed to bring this new product to market for our customers,” commented Kevin Moore, president of renewable chemicals at ADM.

The Chicago-headquartered agricultural group invested $25 million in Rennovia in February 2014, and a month later Rennovia and Johnson Matthey announced their collaboration to develop and commercialize the technology. In July 2015, the companies successfully started up a fully integrated mini-plant to produce bio-based glucaric acid and adipic acid at Johnson Matthey’s R&D center in Stockton, UK.

Glucaric acid, an intermediate in the production of adipic acid, is also an emerging platform chemical with a wide range of applications in detergents and cleaners, concrete formulations, de-icing and anti-corrosion products.