# Bio-acrylic acid Renewable routes to acrylic acid, the C3 monomer behind superabsorbent polymers, paints, coatings and adhesives, across two distinct value chains: bioethanol-derived bio-based acrylate esters already commercial at Arkema (Carling, France, bio-based ethyl acrylate at 40% bio carbon content since October 2024) and BASF (Ludwigshafen, portfolio switched to bio-based ethyl acrylate in August 2024), and direct fermentative acrylic-acid routes via 3-hydroxypropionic acid (Cargill's Issatchenkia orientalis SD108 platform) or direct yeast fermentation (Genomatica's Saccharomyces cerevisiae host at ~30 mg/L laboratory titre) still at pilot or research scale — no Chinese commercial originator confirmed as of 2026. Source: https://en.bioecon.ru/technology/bio-acrylic-acid/ Updated: 2026-08-18 ## Overview and value chain Markers: [EC: REACH chemical registration (EC 1907/2006) | OECD: Industrial biotechnology | Regulator: REACH (EU), EPA (US)] Acrylic acid is a C3 unsaturated carboxylic acid produced globally at multimillion-tonne annual scale, almost entirely from fossil propylene via two-step catalytic oxidation through acrolein, and used downstream for superabsorbent polymers in hygiene products, polymer emulsions for paints and coatings, and acrylate ester monomers for adhesives, textiles and pressure-sensitive films. Two competing renewable routes are now commercialising in parallel. Arkema launched bio-based Ethyl Acrylate produced entirely from bioethanol at its Carling (France) acrylic monomer facility in October 2024, achieving 40% bio carbon content and up to 30% reduction in product carbon footprint, and BASF switched its entire ethyl acrylate portfolio to a bio-based grade in August 2024 followed by a 2026 collaboration with Avery Dennison on renewable-attributed butyl acrylate and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate. A separate value chain aims at the molecule itself rather than its esters: Cargill's long-running 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HPA) platform, advanced in a January 2026 Nature Communications paper on the acid-tolerant yeast Issatchenkia orientalis SD108 engineered through the β-alanine pathway with up to eight copies of the PAND gene, would convert fermentatively produced 3-HPA to acrylic acid by catalytic dehydration; Genomatica's March 2026 paper in Microbial Cell Factories established Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a host for direct acrylic-acid fermentation, identifying the β-alanine route as most promising and achieving around 30 mg/L AA in batch shake-flask experiments after ACH1-knockout work. No Chinese commercial bio-acrylic-acid originator cleared source confirmation as of 2026. The key directions of bio-acrylic acid are: 1. **3-Hydroxypropionic acid (3-HPA) fermentation route (3-Hydroxypropionic Acid Fermentation):** microbial production of the direct AA precursor 3-HPA via engineered acid-tolerant yeast, followed by catalytic dehydration to acrylic acid — Cargill's I. orientalis SD108 β-alanine-pathway platform. 2. **Direct acrylic-acid fermentation (Direct Acrylic Acid Fermentation):** engineering yeast to excrete acrylic acid itself rather than a precursor, bypassing the chemical dehydration step — Genomatica's S. cerevisiae host with ACH1-knockout tolerance mechanism. 3. **Bioethanol-derived acrylate esters (Bioethanol-to-Acrylate Route):** replacing fossil propylene with bioethanol as the upstream feedstock for the conventional acrolein-oxidation route, producing drop-in bio-based acrylate esters — Arkema (Carling) and BASF (Ludwigshafen / Freeport). 4. **Pilot-to-commercial scale-up (Bio-Acrylic Acid Scale-Up):** moving fermentative AA routes from milligram-per-litre laboratory titres toward the volumes and economics required to displace propylene-derived acrylic acid — the common bottleneck across Cargill and Genomatica's programmes. ### Sectoral value chain ``` [sugars / bioethanol / glycerol feedstock] ──> [microbial fermentation or bioethanol-to-acrolein conversion] │ (intermediates: 3-HPA, acetaldehyde, acrolein) │ ▼ [bio-based acrylate ester] <─── [esterification] <─── [catalytic dehydration to acrylic acid] │ ▼ [superabsorbent polymers, coatings, adhesives] ``` ### Value chain levels | Level | Description | Key inputs/outputs | |:---|:---|:---| | **Feedstock Sourcing** | sourcing renewable carbon feedstocks — plant sugars for fermentation, bioethanol for the acrolein route, or bio-glycerol as a biodiesel by-product | **In:** sugar cane / corn / beet sugars, bioethanol, bio-glycerol.
**Out:** feedstock-ready fermentation broth or bioethanol stream. | | **Microbial Fermentation / Bioethanol Conversion** | engineered yeast (Cargill's I. orientalis, Genomatica's S. cerevisiae) produces 3-HPA or AA from sugars; or bioethanol is dehydrogenated to acetaldehyde and oxidised to acrolein via the conventional route | **In:** sugars or bioethanol, production strain or catalyst.
**Out:** 3-HPA / AA broth, or acrolein intermediate stream. | | **Catalytic Dehydration** | 3-HPA is catalytically dehydrated to acrylic acid, or acrolein is oxidised to acrylic acid over a heterogeneous catalyst | **In:** 3-HPA broth or acrolein stream, dehydration catalyst.
**Out:** crude acrylic acid. | | **Purification** | crude acrylic acid is purified to glacial, polymer-grade acrylic acid | **In:** crude acrylic acid.
**Out:** glacial polymer-grade acrylic acid. | | **Esterification** | acrylic acid is esterified with the appropriate alcohol (ethanol, butanol, 2-ethylhexanol) to produce ethyl acrylate, butyl acrylate or 2-ethylhexyl acrylate monomers | **In:** polymer-grade AA, alcohol.
**Out:** acrylate ester monomer (Arkema bio-based EA, BASF bio-based EA and RE acrylates). | | **Downstream Polymerisation** | acrylate monomers are polymerised into superabsorbent polymers, polymer dispersions for coatings, and pressure-sensitive adhesives | **In:** acrylate ester monomers, polymerisation initiator.
**Out:** SAP, paint binders, adhesive films. | Cross-cutting technologies of the sector: - **β-alanine biosynthetic pathway (3-Hydroxypropionic Acid Fermentation):** the metabolic route identified as optimal for both 3-HPA and direct AA production, converting aspartate through PAND (aspartate decarboxylase), BAPAT and YDFG to the target C3 acid. - **Acid-tolerant yeast host engineering (Direct Acrylic Acid Fermentation):** use of low-pH-tolerant yeasts (I. orientalis SD108, ACH1-knockout S. cerevisiae) to enable product accumulation in acid form rather than as a neutralised salt. - **Bioethanol-to-acrylate drop-in chemistry (Bioethanol-to-Acrylate Route):** integration of bioethanol feedstock into the conventional acrolein-oxidation process to produce molecularly identical, drop-in bio-based acrylate esters. --- ## US The US hosts both the precursor-fermentation and direct-fermentation research programmes targeting acrylic acid itself, anchored in Minnesota and California. ### Cargill 3-HPA platform, Genomatica direct-fermentation, EPA - **Cargill (Minnetonka, Minnesota):** advances a long-running 3-hydroxypropionic acid platform whose January 2026 Nature Communications paper engineered the acid-tolerant yeast Issatchenkia orientalis SD108 through the β-alanine pathway, balancing PAND (aspartate decarboxylase, up to eight integrated copies), pyruvate carboxylase (PYC) and aspartate aminotransferase (AAT) to push carbon flux toward 3-HPA at low pH; 3-HPA is the direct precursor dehydratable to acrylic acid, positioning Cargill as the US anchor of the precursor-route value chain. - **Genomatica (San Diego, California):** established Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a direct acrylic-acid fermentation host in a March 2026 Microbial Cell Factories paper, identifying the β-alanine route as most promising, linking AA tolerance to the mitochondrial genes ACH1 and ETR1, and achieving around 30 mg/L AA in batch shake-flask experiments after ACH1-knockout work that reduced AA degradation — an early-stage, foundational platform for renewable AA production. - **EPA framework:** bio-based acrylic acid and its esters produced or placed on the US market fall under standard EPA industrial-chemical (TSCA) review, alongside renewable-fuel-linked feedstock accounting where bioethanol-derived; commercial acrylate esters already on the market (Arkema/BASF bio-based EA) are processed through conventional TSCA chemical inventory channels. --- ## CN No Chinese company cleared source confirmation as a dedicated bio-acrylic-acid commercial originator as of 2026; the two leading Chinese candidates queried (Jilin Boda Biochemistry, a bio-based chemicals firm, and Zhejiang Realsun Chemical) returned only generic bio-based-ABS market reports and unrelated supplier listings — no company-specific bio-acrylic-acid or bio-acrylate product coverage was confirmed. ### research gap, NDRC/MIIT petrochemical policy - **Research gap:** Chinese industrial-biotechnology reporting in this period emphasises fermentation-derived long-chain dicarboxylic acids, lactic acid and bio-based polyamide (Cathay Biotech's Taijin pentanediamine project) rather than a dedicated bio-acrylic-acid originator; conventional propylene-oxidation acrylic acid production remains the confirmed domestic pathway. - **Regulatory pathway:** to the extent a bio-based acrylic acid or acrylate product reached the Chinese market, industrial chemical registration would run through standard MIIT/NDRC petrochemical-sector channels rather than a dedicated biotech pathway, consistent with the broader petrochemical cluster. --- ## EU Europe hosts the only commercial bio-based acrylate production at industrial scale, anchored in France and Germany, with drop-in bioethanol-derived ethyl acrylate already replacing its fossil-derived counterpart at two major chemicals sites. ### Arkema, BASF, REACH - **Arkema (Colombes, France; production at Carling):** launched bio-based Ethyl Acrylate produced entirely from bioethanol at its Carling acrylic monomer facility in October 2024, achieving 40% bio carbon content (BCC) and up to 30% reduction in product carbon footprint (PCF) per IPCC 2021 GWP100 assumptions; the launch builds on a 2023 investment to cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions at the Carling site by around 20%. - **BASF (Ludwigshafen, Germany):** switched its entire ethyl acrylate portfolio to a bio-based grade in August 2024, followed by a March 2026 collaboration with Avery Dennison launching renewable-attributed Butyl Acrylate RE and 2-Ethylhexyl Acrylate RE produced at BASF's Freeport (Texas) site using renewable electricity, and a July 2026 expansion of its certified biomass-balanced additives portfolio for architectural coatings. - **REACH framework:** bio-based acrylic acid and acrylate esters manufactured or placed on the EU market fall under REACH chemical registration, evaluation and authorisation, the same regime governing their fossil-derived counterparts. --- ## Leading companies and research institutes | Company / Institute | Country | Key products / platforms | Tech features | Status 2026 | |:---|:---|:---|:---|:---| | **Cargill** | 🇺🇸 USA | *3-HPA via I. orientalis SD108 (precursor to AA)* | β-alanine pathway, PAND multi-copy integration, low-pH acid-tolerant yeast | pilot | | **Genomatica** | 🇺🇸 USA | *Direct AA fermentation in S. cerevisiae* | ACH1/ETR1 tolerance engineering, β-alanine route, ~30 mg/L batch titre | pilot | | **Arkema** | 🇫🇷 France | *Bio-based Ethyl Acrylate (Carling)* | Bioethanol-to-acrylate drop-in, 40% bio carbon content, 30% PCF reduction | commercial | | **BASF** | 🇩🇪 Germany | *Bio-based Ethyl Acrylate portfolio + biomass-balanced additives* | Portfolio-wide bio-based EA switch (Aug 2024), renewable-attributed acrylates with Avery Dennison | commercial | --- ## Tech stack and innovations The stack spans two distinct renewable-AA value chains: microbial fermentation toward the molecule itself (still pre-commercial) and bioethanol-fed drop-in acrylate ester production (already commercial). 1. **β-alanine-pathway 3-HPA fermentation (3-Hydroxypropionic Acid Fermentation):** - Cargill's January 2026 Nature Communications paper engineered Issatchenkia orientalis SD108 with a genetic toolbox (episomal plasmids, promoter/terminator library, multiplex CRISPR deletion, landing-pad multi-copy integration) and identified the β-alanine pathway as optimal, with PAND (aspartate decarboxylase) rate-limiting at up to eight integrated copies and balanced PYC (pyruvate carboxylase) and AAT (aspartate aminotransferase) pushing flux toward 3-HPA at low pH. 2. **Direct acrylic-acid yeast fermentation (Direct Acrylic Acid Fermentation):** - Genomatica's March 2026 Microbial Cell Factories paper established Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a host for direct AA production, identifying the β-alanine route as most promising, linking AA tolerance to mitochondrial genes ACH1 and ETR1, and achieving around 30 mg/L AA in batch shake-flask experiments after ACH1 knockout reduced AA-CoA accumulation and AA degradation. 3. **Bioethanol-derived drop-in acrylates (Bioethanol-to-Acrylate Route):** - Arkema's October 2024 Carling launch and BASF's August 2024 portfolio switch both produce drop-in bio-based ethyl acrylate by replacing fossil-derived propylene feedstock with bioethanol, yielding a molecularly identical ester with verifiable bio carbon content (40% BCC at Arkema) and quantified carbon-footprint reduction (up to 30% PCF). 4. **Pilot-to-commercial scale-up (Bio-Acrylic Acid Scale-Up):** - Across Cargill and Genomatica, the shared technical challenge is moving from milligram-per-litre laboratory titres toward the tonne-scale production volumes and cost positions required to displace fossil propylene in commodity acrylic acid markets, a gap that the commercial drop-in acrylate producers (Arkema, BASF) have already bridged via the bioethanol route. --- ## Value chains and production pipelines ### Industrial pipeline of bio-acrylic acid (REACH / EPA) ``` ┌───────────────────────────┐ ┌───────────────────────────┐ │ 1. Feedstock sourcing │ ───> │ 2. Fermentation / │ │ (sugars, bioethanol) │ │ bioethanol conversion │ └───────────────────────────┘ └───────────────────────────┘ │ ▼ ┌───────────────────────────┐ ┌───────────────────────────┐ │ 4. Purification │ <─── │ 3. Catalytic dehydration │ │ │ │ (3-HPA → AA) │ └───────────────────────────┘ └───────────────────────────┘ │ ▼ ┌───────────────────────────┐ ┌───────────────────────────┐ │ 5. Esterification │ ───> │ 6. Downstream │ │ (AA → acrylate ester) │ │ polymerisation │ └───────────────────────────┘ └───────────────────────────┘ ``` #### Stage 1: Feedstock sourcing Plant sugars (sugar cane, corn, beet), bioethanol, or bio-glycerol as a biodiesel by-product are sourced as the renewable carbon feedstock, replacing fossil propylene in the conventional acrylic-acid value chain. #### Stage 2: Fermentation / bioethanol conversion Engineered acid-tolerant yeast (Cargill's Issatchenkia orientalis SD108 via the β-alanine pathway, Genomatica's ACH1-knockout Saccharomyces cerevisiae) converts sugars to 3-HPA or directly to AA; alternatively, bioethanol is dehydrogenated to acetaldehyde and oxidised to acrolein via the conventional two-step route (Arkema, BASF). #### Stage 3: Catalytic dehydration 3-HPA broth is catalytically dehydrated to acrylic acid over a heterogeneous dehydration catalyst, or acrolein is oxidised to acrylic acid — the stage at which the precursor-route (Cargill) and direct-fermentation route (Genomatica) converge on the same target molecule. #### Stage 4: Purification Crude acrylic acid is purified to glacial, polymer-grade acrylic acid suitable for downstream esterification or direct polymerisation into superabsorbent polymers. #### Stage 5: Esterification Polymer-grade acrylic acid is esterified with ethanol (Arkema Carling bio-based EA, BASF bio-based EA), butanol or 2-ethylhexanol to produce the corresponding acrylate ester monomers for the coatings and adhesives markets. #### Stage 6: Downstream polymerisation Acrylate monomers are polymerised into superabsorbent polymers for hygiene products, polymer dispersions for paints and coatings, and pressure-sensitive adhesives — the value-chain end where Arkema and BASF's commercial bio-based acrylates already meet downstream customers.