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2013|14 Annual Report Fraunhofer IGB

FRAUNHOFER BIOCAT PROJECT GROUP The BioCat Project Group develops catalytic processes and new renewables-based products to enable a sustainable future supply of raw materials and energy to industry and society. The focus is on the development of new chemical catalysts and biocatalysts and their application in technical processes. We work with the entire spectrum of catalysis – comprising heterogeneous and homogeneous chemical catalysis, enzymatic and whole cell catalysis, and the combina- tion of these – which we use to synthesize new products from substrates such as biomass, CO2 and waste streams. These new products include, for example, epoxides and monomers from terpenes, which are obtained from plants and residual materials in wood processing. Further examples are mono- mers derived from lignin for use in conductive polymers, func- tionalized carboxylic acids and biobased surfactants derived from sugars, plant oils and fatty acids. Additionally, the proj- ect group develops processes to convert excess electrical ener- gy into fuel through the capture and conversion of CO2. These products and their production processes are made available to companies for the production of bulk and fine chemicals. Al- ternatively, they can be used to store energy in chemical carri- ers such as long chain hydrocarbons, and therefore contribute to the success of the energy turnaround. The group’s goal is the best possible utilization of resources along the entire value chain from raw material to biobased end product. It is vital that society turns its efforts today – and no later – to developing the next generation of catalysts and processes that will allow the international community to replace crude oil with biomass, residues and waste material as well as CO2 as key sources of raw materials. BioCat aims to accelerate and play a major role in shaping this trend in “sustainable chemis- try”. Its approach is concentrated on developing novel chemo- catalytic and biocatalytic processes for the material utilization of renewable raw materials, focusing on identifying ways of combining chemical and biotechnological methods to opti- mally exploit the diversity of plant biomass and leverage the advantages of combined chemocatalysis and biocatalysis. Besides wide-ranging expertise in biotechnology (enzyme technology, fermentation, screening of biocatalysts) and chemistry (organic synthesis, analytics, homogeneous and het- erogeneous catalysis), the BioCat Project Group, which is com- posed of biotechnologists, molecular biologists and chem- ists specialized in catalysis and synthesis, can offer in-depth knowledge in the field of biogenic raw materials and natural materials. By pooling these interdisciplinary specializations, we are able not only to provide scientific and technical consulting services, but, in particular, to carry out developmental work hand in hand with future customers in the following areas: new catalysts, as well as the optimization of existing catalysts and processes, new materials, and new reactions. For this work we use a broad range of analytical methods, including GC-MS, LC-MS, NMR and electroanalysis. Research combining biocatalysis and chemical catalysis is carried out in close cooperation with the TU München, the departments of the Fraunhofer IGB, with the Fraunhofer ICT in Pfinztal and the Fraunhofer UMSICHT institute’s branch in Sulzbach-Rosenberg. Collaborative projects offer an opportu- nity to address the conversion of renewables and the use of hydrocarbons to store electrical energy. COMPETENCES 60

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