Glucarates
The U.S. Department of Energy projects that a handful of renewable chemicals will become building blocks for major commercial applications and bioproducts. According to the Department of Energy, glucaric acid is one of the top "twelve building block chemicals that... can be subsequently converted to a number of high-value bio-based chemicals or materials."
While glucaric acid is the essential form, glucarate salts and lactones comprise the applicable forms of glucaric acid in almost all cases. Rivertop can produce a variety of glucarate salts with varying levels of solubility and pH.
Low-cost glucarate salts and lactones sold today as research chemicals will be sold tomorrow as ingredients to major commercial bioproducts.
Low-cost glucarate salts and lactones sold today as research chemicals will be sold tomorrow as ingredients to major commercial bioproducts.
The Department of Energy projects that glucarate can be applied to products in several markets—industrial uses, environmental protection & remediation, building materials, health and hygiene and possibly recreation materials. Glucarate’s properties and subsequent promise as biodegradable source material for polymers further expand the variation available to innovators.
The markets for glucarates are undeveloped as the price has been expensive and the supply has been limited. Rivertop’s platform technology overcomes these hurdles, positioning glucarate to become one of the most important renewable chemicals used by industry.
Glucarate is currently sold only as a health supplement and research chemical.
Rivertop’s product development program is proving glucarates as effective for use in safe, biodegradable corrosion inhibitors, concrete admixtures, detergent builders, gels, and adhesives.
Based on the scientific literature and the Company’s own experience, Rivertop scientists expect biodegradable glucarate to be formulated to create dust suppressants, composite materials, heavy metal sequestering agents, flame and fire retardants, films and other products that are important to society.
In developing applications and products, Rivertop is working from the well-supported hypothesis that whatever gluconate can do, glucarate can do better. (Gluconate, a salt or ester of gluconic acid, is a closely related chemical to glucarate.) The structure and biodegradable properties of glucarate also make it a good foundation on which chemists can build a wide variety of polymers. Rivertop has direct experience and intellectual property on developing and applying two classes of glucarate-based polymers. For example, Rivertop is developing a polymer to control the timed release of fertilizer nutrients, which could save farmers money and conserve clean water.
Glucarates are made from the least expensive and most available carbohydrate in the world, D-glucose. The current principal source of D-glucose is corn starch. Significant industrial and academic scientific efforts around the world are directed to producing D-glucose from wood and biomass resources. Whatever the source of D-glucose, Rivertop can apply its technology to produce its glucarate-based products.
Rivertop continues its work with academic scientists, government researchers and industry partners to further explore and expand the potential for glucarates. For information on lab quantities of glucarate salts available for research and development, please email science@rivertop.com.