Engineered Catalyst Converts Biomass Sugars to Lactic Acid

A research team has developed a nickel-based catalyst that converts glucose into lactic acid, a building block for biodegradable plastics. By changing the organic linkers in a metal - organic framework, the researchers created structural defects that improved its performance. The optimized catalyst converted 99.5% of glucose and produced a 51.7% lactic acid yield in water at 170 C after four hours. With a more dilute glucose solution, the yield reached 68.7%. The catalyst also produced lactic acid from corn cobs, suggesting a possible route for making this useful chemical from renewable biomass.