Chinese scientists have made new achievements!

Chinese scientists have achieved precise total synthesis from carbon dioxide to sugar.

On August 15, the famous academic journal Science Bulletin published the latest research results showing that Chinese scientists have achieved precise total synthesis from carbon dioxide to sugar in the laboratory, taking a key step towards artificial synthesis of sugar.

A sample of artificial hexose solution photographed in the laboratory of Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (photographed on August 13). Xinhua News Agency reporter Sun Fanyue

Sugar is the main source of energy for the human body. Artificial synthesis of sugar has been a hot topic in the scientific community in recent years. Prior to this, many scientists around the world have made contributions to varying degrees.

The research results were completed by the research team of Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences after more than two years of research. Yang Jiangang, the first author of the paper, introduced that the team mixed high-concentration carbon dioxide and other raw materials in a certain proportion in the reaction solution, and obtained four hexoses: glucose, allulose, tagatose, and mannose under the action of chemical catalysts and enzyme catalysts. Hexose is a general term for sugars that are widely distributed in nature and are most closely related to the body's nutritional metabolism.

In the laboratory of Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the research team is conducting an experiment on artificial synthesis of hexose (photo taken on August 13). Xinhua News Agency reporter Sun Fanyue

The reaction time of the whole experiment is about 17 hours. Compared with the traditional method of extracting sugar by planting crops such as sugarcane, the time of obtaining sugar has achieved a leap from "years" to "hours".

The efficiency of sugar synthesis this time is 0.67 grams per liter per hour, which is more than 10 times higher than the known results. The carbon fixation synthesis efficiency of glucose reaches 59.8 nanomoles of carbon per milligram of catalyst per minute, which is the highest level of artificial sugar production known at home and abroad.

In the laboratory of Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Associate Researcher Yang Jiangang is conducting an experiment on artificial hexose synthesis (photo taken on August 13). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jin Liwang

The research also achieved precise control of artificial sugar synthesis. "By controlling the different catalytic effects of different enzymes, in theory, almost any type of sugar can be synthesized," said Yang Jiangang.

Manfred Reitz, a member of the German Academy of Sciences, commented on the paper and believed that converting carbon dioxide into sugar is a particularly challenging task. This achievement provides a flexible, versatile and efficient sugar synthesis route, opening a door to green chemistry.

Planning and production

Source: Xinhua News Agency

Reporter: Mao Zhenhua, Wang Jinghuai

Editor: Cui Yinghao