Bioengineering company Genomatica and Brazilian petrochemical producer Braskem have successfully produced butadiene (BD) at laboratory scale using their direct, bio-based process.

A joint team has developed a microorganism that consumes sugar and converts it to BD, using two-liter fermenters. The companies had previously selected five potential biological pathways from 60 candidates that Genomatica had identified using computational tools.

Nelson Barton, Genomatica’s senior vice president R&D, said the team has quickly hit a key milestone and its rational approach to strain design should enable faster, more predictable scale-up and better economics as the program advances.

The additional intellectual property gained will support subsequent development stages and represents an important competitive advantage, the companies said.

Braskem has been producing 200,000 t/y of polyethylene from ethanol since 2010 and has another cooperation underway to develop bio-based isoprene.

Genomatica is also developing a bioprocess for polyamide intermediates with Italy’s Versalis.