Methods for producing isomers of muconic acid and muconate salts

1. A method for producing cis,trans-muconate comprising:

providing cis,cis-muconate produced from a renewable carbon source through biocatalytic conversion;

isomerizing cis,cis-muconate to cis, trans-muconate under reaction conditions in which substantially all of the cis,cis-muconate is isomerized to cis,trans-muconate at a pH between about 3.5 and about 4.5;

extracting the cis,trans-muconate with an organic solvent immiscible with an aqueous phase; and

crystallizing the cis,trans-muconate.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising

culturing recombinant cells that express 3-dehydroshikimate dehydratase, protocatechuate decarboxylase and catechol 1,2-dioxygenase in a medium comprising the renewable carbon source and under conditions in which the renewable carbon source is converted to 3-dehydroshikimate by enzymes in the common pathway of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis of the cell, and the 3-dehydroshikimate is biocatalytically converted to cis,cis-muconate.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the isomerization reaction is catalyzed by an acid, wherein the acid can be an inorganic acid or an organic acid.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising precipitating the cis,trans-muconate from solution by acidification to a pH below about 3.0.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cis, trans-muconate is crystallized with an organic solvent, wherein the organic solvent comprises one or more of methanol, ethanol, propanol, isopropanol, butanol, acetic acid, acetonitrile, acetone, and tetrahydrofuran.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cis, trans-muconate is further isomerized to trans,trans-muconate in a reaction catalyzed by I 2 , by a precious metal hydrogenation catalyst, by a sponge metal hydrogenation catalyst, or by a skeletal hydrogenation catalyst.

7. A method for producing cis,trans-muconate comprising:

providing an aqueous fermentation broth comprising cis,cis-muconate produced from a renewable carbon source through biocatalytic conversion;

isomerizing cis,cis-muconate to cis,trans-muconate under reaction conditions in which substantially all of the cis,cis-muconate is isomerized to cis,trans-muconate at a pH between about 3.5 and about 4.5;

extracting the cis,trans-muconate from the aqueous broth with an organic solvent immiscible with the aqueous broth; and

crystallizing the cis,trans-muconate.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the fermentation broth comprises recombinant cells that express 3-dehydroshikimate dehydratase, protocatechuate decarboxylase and catechol 1,2-dioxygenase.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

culturing the recombinant cells that express 3-dehydroshikimate dehydratase, protocatechuate decarboxylase and catechol 1,2-dioxygenase in a medium comprising the renewable carbon source and under conditions in which the renewable carbon source is converted to 3-dehydroshikimate by enzymes in the common pathway of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis of the cell, and the 3-dehydroshikimate is biocatalytically converted to cis,cis-muconate,

wherein the recombinant cells are cultured in a fermentor vessel, thereby producing the fermentation broth.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing cis, cis-muconate produced from the renewable carbon source through biocatalytic conversion employs a host cell transfoimed with heterologous structural genes from Klebsiella pneumoniae , which express the enzymes 3-dehydroshikimate dehydratase and protocatechuate decarboxylase, and from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus , which expresses the enzyme catechol 1,2-dioxygenase.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the host cell further comprises heterologous DNA sequences which express the enzymes 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase and 3-dehydroquinate synthase.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the host cell further comprises heterologous DNA sequences which express the enzyme transketolase.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the host cell is selected from mutant cell lines having mutations in the common pathway of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis that block conversion of 3-dehydroshikimate to chorismate.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the host cell produces cis,cis-muconic acid at a rate of at least about 0.95 millimoles/liter/hour.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing cis,cis-muconate produced from the renewable carbon source through biocatalytic conversion comprises culturing a transformed host cell, which expresses heterologous structural genes encoding 3-dehydroshikimate dehydratase, protocatechuate decarboxylase, catechol 1,2-dioxygenase, transketolase, 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase, and 3-dehydroquinate synthase, in a medium containing a carbon source which is converted to 3-dehydroshikimate, by the enzymes in the common pathway of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis of the host cell.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the renewable carbon source is a biospheric feedstock.

17. The method of claim 2 , wherein the recombinant cells are recombinant prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells.

18. The method of claim 7 , wherein the renewable carbon source is a biospheric feedstock.

19. The method of claim 8 , wherein the recombinant cells are recombinant prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the organic solvent is selected from the group consisting of: methyl isobutylketone, ethyl acetate, isopropyl acetate, heptanes, methyl tert -butylether, methylene chloride, methyl ethyl ketone, cyclohexanol, tetralin, tetralone, butyl acetate, methyl tetrahydrofuran, cyclohexanone, octanol, butanol, pentanol, isoamyl alcohol, and 2-ethylhexanol.

21. The method of claim 7 , wherein the organic solvent is selected from the group consisting of: methyl isobutylketone, ethyl acetate, isopropyl acetate, heptanes, methyl tert -butylether, methylene chloride, methyl ethyl ketone, cyclohexanol, tetralin, tetralone, butyl acetate, methyl tetrahydrofuran, cyclohexanone, octanol, butanol, pentanol, isoamyl alcohol, and 2-ethylhexanol.

22. The method of claim 7 , further comprising precipitating the cis,trans-muconate from the broth by acidification to a pH below about 3.0.