Isoprene production: Isoprene (2-methyl-1,3-butadiene) is produced from petroleu

Question

Isoprene production: Isoprene (2-methyl-1,3-butadiene) is produced from petroleum and is used to produce synthetic rubber. Isoprene is also a natural metabolic product in many plants. Your company is evaluating a project to metabolically engineer E. coli to anaerobically convert glucose to isoprene. You have been tasked with performing some initial calculations into the feasibility of this approach.

a. Assuming that the only other products or reactants in the metabolism are CO2 and water, write a balanced stoichiometry for the metabolism of glucose to isoprene using the conserved electron approach?

b. If glucose can be purchased at $0.30 per kg and assuming a target commercial yield of isoprene that is 90% of the theoretical, what is the feedstock (glucose) cost per kg of isoprene?

Explanation / Answer

a. C6H12O6 + O2 ---------> C5H8 + CO2 + 2H2O

glucose isoprene

b. As commercial yield is 90% so 1 mol of glucose will produce 0.90 mole of isoprene (C5H8).

Molar mass of C5H8 = 68 g/mol Number of moles in 1 kg C5H8 = 1000g/68gmol-1 = 14.7 mol

0.90 mole of isoprene (C5H8) = 1 mol glucose

14.7 mole of isoprene (C5H8) = 14.7/0.9 mol glucose = 16.3 mol = 16.3 x 180 g = 2934 g = 2.934 Kg [Molar mass of glucose = 180 g/mol]

feedback cost per kg of isoprene = 2.934 x $ 0.30 = $ 0.88

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