UCLA

To produce more diversified and more valuable commodities from a biobased economy, I have sought to upgrade ethanol into a wider range of products through cell-free platform technologies. I have built two styles of ethanol valorization system, one through acetaldehyde condensation, another through acetyl-CoA. Also, I have developed methods to power biochemical systems, one that converts electrical power into reducing equivalents and another that can regenerate ATP while co-producing acetone. I developed a 1,3-BDO production system that reached a maximum 0.16 g/L/h productivity, and, with replenishment of feedstock and enzymes, achieved a 1,3-BDO titer of 7.7 g/L. I also developed an isoprenol production system able to reach a maximum 1.0 � 0.05 mM/h productivity and 12.5 � 0.8 mM maximum titer. My ATP generator reached titers of 27 � 6 mM ATP and 59 � 15 mM acetone with maximum ATP synthesis rate of 2.8 � 0.6 mM/hour and acetone of 7.8 � 0.8 mM/hour. These results demonstrate a proof-of-concept blueprint for more diversified bioeconomy for commodity chemical productions.