FERMENTATIVE PRODUCTION OF ACETONE FROM RENEWABLE RESOURCES BY MEANS OF NOVEL METABOLIC PATHWAY

摘要

The invention describes a process for the preparation of acetone starting from acetyl-coenzyme A comprising the process steps A. enzymatic conversion of acetyl-CoA to give acetoacetyl-CoA B. enzymatic conversion of acetoacetyl-CoA into acetoacetate and CoA, and C. decarboxylation of acetoacetate to give acetone and CO2, which process is characterized in that, in process step B, the coenzyme A is not transferred to an acceptor molecule. Moreover, surprisingly, process step B is catalyzed by enzymes from the classes acyl-CoA thioesterase, acyl-CoA synthetase or acyl-CoA thiokinase. This is an entirely novel metabolic pathway since the enzymatic hydrolysis of acetoacetyl-CoA without the simultaneous transfer of CoA to a receptor molecule has never been described before for any microbial enzyme.