Long-chain alcohols derived from the microalga Monoraphidium

Xuewei Yang, Xin Dai, Rui Zhang, Cong Shao, Shu Geng, Guangyi Chen, Xianhua Liu and Guangyi Wang

Abstract

This study was to investigate the composition and characteristics of long-chained alcohols extracted from the algal strain Monoraphidium 3s35. The production of biomass was optimized using different cultivation methods. Under the aerated growth condition, this strain yielded up to 37.26% extracts of dry weight and 576 mgL-1 biomass. The major compounds of the extracts are mainly long-chained alcohols (89.24%), with carbon chain length ranging from 12 to 20. Interestingly, or the long-chained alcohols, 3-(2-Methoxyethyl)-1-nonanol, 3,7,11, 15-Tetramethyl-2-hexadecen-1-ol and oleyl alcohol accounted for 53.68%, 23.45%, and 12.11%, respectively. Because of their amphipathic nature, these long-chained alcohols have been widely used in bioenergy production and cosmetics industry. Furthermore, Monoraphidium 3s35 produced 9.73% of C17 and C20 alkanes, which can be used as an important supplement for the petrodiesel-like fuel.

Key Words

Microalgae; Monoraphidium sp.; long-chained alcohols; 1H-NMR; GC/MS

Address

(1) Xuewei Yang, Xin Dai, Rui Zhang, Cong Shao, Shu Geng and Guangyi Wang: Key Engineering Laboratory for Algal Biofuels, School of Environment and Energy, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055, China; (2) Guangyi Chen, Xianhua Liu and Guangyi Wang: Tianjin University Center for Marine Environmental Ecology, school of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China; (3) Guangyi Wang: Department of Microbiology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.

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