title: Development of New Carbon Resources: Production of Important Chemicals from Algal Residue.
abstract: Algal biomass has received attention as an alternative carbon resource owing not only to its high oil production efficiency but also, unlike corn starch, to its lack of demand in foods. However, algal residue is commonly discarded after the abstraction of oil. The utilization of the residue to produce chemicals will therefore increase the value of using algal biomass instead of fossil fuels. Here, we report the use of algal residue as a new carbon resource to produce important chemicals. The application of different homogeneous catalysts leads to the selective production of methyl levulinate or methyl lactate. These results demonstrate the successful development of new carbon resources as a solution for the depletion of fossil fuels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, School of Materials and Chemical Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259-G1-14 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 226-8502, Japan. yamaguchi.s.ag@m.titech.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Sho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Kitasato University, 1-15-1 Kitasato, Minami-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 252-0373, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawada
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Kitasato University, 1-15-1 Kitasato, Minami-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 252-0373, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidetaka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yuge
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Chemistry and Life Science, Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259-R1-30 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 226-8502, Japan.|Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Saitama, 332-0012, Japan.
authors.forename: Kan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Chemistry and Life Science, Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259-R1-30 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 226-8502, Japan.|Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Saitama, 332-0012, Japan.
authors.forename: Sousuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Imamura
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels; D018533:Biomass; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism; D007773:Lactates / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D007982:Levulinic Acids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D000461:Rhodophyta / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D007773:Lactates; D007982:Levulinic Acids; C028444:methyl lactate; C119867:methyl levulinate; D002244:Carbon