BASF Leaves Bio-Acrylic Acid Partnership

On January 27, 2015, BASF
left the research and development (R&D) collaboration with Novozymes and
Cargill that it had joined in 2012. Novozymes and Cargill have
worked to develop a process to produce biobased 3-hydroxypropionic (3-HP) and
acrylic acid from renewable materials since 2008. In BASF’s absence, the two
remaining companies are looking for a third partner for the project. The
R&D project has already produced 3-HP in pilot scale and converted 3-HP to
glacial acrylic acid and superabsorbent polymers. The goal is now to commercialize
3-HP to biobased chemicals in order to bring customers sustainable alternatives
to petroleum based chemicals.