Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Enzymatic Cascade Reactions for the Synthesis of Chiral Amino Alcohols from L-lysine
Published on: February 16, 2018
Production of 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde using a two-step process with Lactobacillus reuteri
Y Doleyres1, P Beck, S Vollenweider
1Laboratory of Food Biotechnology, Institute of Food Science and Nutrition, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zentrum, Schmelzbergstrasse 9, Zurich, 8092, Switzerland.
Abstract:
3-Hydroxypropionaldehyde (3-HPA) produced by Lactobacillus reuteri is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial substance of glycerol conversion. The aim of the present work was to optimize 3-HPA production by Lb. reuteri ATCC 53608 using a two-step process. The first step was the production of Lb. reuteri cells in optimal conditions. Cells were then harvested by centrifugation and suspended in glycerol solution, which the resting cells bioconverted to 3-HPA. The effect of biomass concentration, temperature, glycerol concentration, anaerobic/micro-aerophilic conditions, and incubation time was studied for high 3-HPA production. 3-HPA accumulation was limited by the death of cells in contact with high concentrations of 3-HPA. However, a very high 3-HPA concentration of 235+/-3 mM was obtained after 45 min of incubation at 30 degrees C in 400 mM glycerol for an initial free-cell concentration of 1.6+/-0.3x10(10) viable cells/ml. A high viability was maintained at low temperatures in the range 5-15 degrees C, but with a slightly lower yield of 3-HPA at 5 degrees C compared with higher temperatures, up to 37 degrees C. Successive 1-h incubations of Lb. reuteri cells in 200 mM glycerol at 15 degrees C to tentatively reuse the cells resulted in decreasing 3-HPA concentrations at the end of each cycle, with two successful production cycles yielding high 3-HPA concentrations of 147+/-1 mM and 128+/-2 mM.
Related Concept Videos
Production of Organic Acids
Reactions of Aldehydes and Ketones: Baeyer–Villiger Oxidation
The carbonyl center is activated by...
Alcohols from Carbonyl Compounds: Reduction
Catalytic hydrogenation is similar to the reduction of an alkene or alkyne by adding H2 across the pi bond in the presence of transition metal catalysts like Raney Ni, Pd–C, Pt, or Ru. Aldehydes and ketones can be reduced by this method, often under mild to moderate heat (25–100°C) and...
Preparation of Aldehydes and Ketones from Carboxylic Acid Derivatives
Carboxylic acid derivatives like acid chlorides and esters are more easily reducible than the corresponding acids. The derivatives reduce in the presence of mild reducing agents to give aldehydes. Aldehydes can also be prepared by Rosenmund reduction, that is, the reduction of acid...
α-Hydroxy Ketones via Reductive Coupling of Esters: Acyloin Condensation Overview
Carboxylic Acids to Primary Alcohols: Hydride Reduction

