Crotonic Acid Production by Pyrolysis and Vapor Fractionation of Mixed Microbial Culture-Based Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-<i>co</i>-3-hydroxyvalerate)

Crotonic acid (CA) and trans-2-pentenoic (2-PA) can be obtained from renewable resources by pyrolysis of the bio-based poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) copolymer. In this study, direct PHBV-enriched biomass into CA 2-PA was studied under an inert atmosphere N2 carrier gas flow, aiming at obtaining high yields mixed microbial cultures (MMCs). The highest 80 ± 2% for 67 1% were conditions 240 °C, 1 h, 0.15 L/min nitrogen flow rate, corresponding to a mean hot vapor residence time 20 s. A similar yield achieved when performed reduced pressure (150 mbar) instead using gas. combined extracted PHBV 220 °C 90 min with fractionation distillation resulted in 81 92% 2-PA, respectively.