New research being commercialized offers renewable chemicals to the perfume industry.
Purdue University has spun out Spero Energy, a new company set to commercialise renewable chemicals for the flavour and fragrance industries. The technology has the potential to also make biofuel production more efficient.
The technology is based on research by Mahdi Abu-Omar, professor of chemistry and chemical engineering at the university. It is able to produce the chemicals from wood lignin, and signifies a more environmentally friendly and less expensive manufacturing process.
The technology processes lignin in a single catalytic step, and results in two distinct materials. The first is dihydroeugenol, a chemical used in both the flavour and fragrance industries. The expensive material is currently produced from petroleum. The second is a lignin-free material which has the potential to improve biofuel production.
The company has been awarded both a six-month, $150,000 Sbir Phase I grant from the US National Science Foundation as well as a nine-month, $149,882 Sbir Phase I grant from the US Department of Energy worth $149,882.
Mahdi Abu-Omar, founder and president at Spero, said: “We are looking for investments and joint ventures with a chemical company that has manufacturing experience, which will help us further develop our products for the flavour and fragrance industry. We also are looking to scale up our production so we can have an impact on the worldwide biofuels market.”