Pharmaceuticals from renewables come closer
Dr Jason E . Camp , CTO at Circa Group , discusses commercialising biobased platform chemicals , the company ’ s investment in renewable chemistry and EU projects
Pharmaceutical manufacturing generates more waste per kilogram of product than any other chemical manufacturing sector . Despite significant advances in green chemistry , more can be done to improve the sustainability of pharmaceutical production . Part of the answer lies in using millions of tonnes of renewable cellulosic biomass waste to create biobased platform molecules that allow for more efficient syntheses . When combined with advances in new technology , these innovations can deliver better medicines more sustainably . There is clear evidence that biobased starting materials provide more sustainable routes to pharmaceutical production .
Sustainability
Circa is bringing new intermediates to market with its patented Furacell technology that converts non-food biomass into the platform chemical levoglucosenone ( LGO ). The company has refined the technology at a series of plants and the next , ReSolute , will produce 1,000 tonnes / year . ReSolute will be commissioned at the end of 2023 in the northeast of France .
The production of LGO is conducted via a dehydration protocol using a standardised process from cellulose waste , such as wood chips . The co-products are water and biochar , which can be used to make the ReSolute plant virtually energy self-sufficient . The clean conversion means that the downstream purification , separation and waste disposal processes are reduced , making the process close to carbon-neutral . ReSolute is the first commercialscale LGO production facility on a roadmap to build a series of plants worldwide that will produce 80,000 tonnes by 2030 . Locating production near markets increases the sustainability of the product profile and builds short-responsive supply chains decoupled from petroleum .
LGO
Biobased platform molecules have distinct advantages over their petroleum-based counterparts . In addition to being fossil-free , their inherent complexity ( chirality ) allows for efficient production of existing drugs and candidates , as well as access to novel chemicals . Research has proved that LGO is an excellent platform molecule for the production and discovery of pharmaceuticals ( Figure 1 ). This chiral building block has been converted via well-established chemical processes into previously difficult-to-synthesise building blocks . 1 Research over the past half century has demonstrated the stereochemical control offered by the bicyclic ring-system and high degree of orthogonality in the reactive functional groups . The chiral nature of LGO offers significant advantages over achiral biobased chemicals , such as furfural , while it is easier to derivatise than monosaccharides . Its chemical reactivity is well understood , but until recently its potential to produce pharmaceuticals more sustainably was untapped due to lack of production at scale .
Pharmaceutical production
Recent work by MSD highlights how using the bio-based platform molecule LGO in combination with advances in chemical technology can result in more sustainable production of pharmaceuticals . 2
Levoglucosenone - reactivity profile Pharmaceutical production
Figure 1 – Levoglucosone as a pharmaceutical building block
Drug discovery
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66 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981