A Pure Molecule
A Cleaner Future.

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hydrocarbon_molecule

No Soups,
Just Pure Molecules

VIA specializes in producing a synthetic aromatic, 3-Methylanisole (3-MA) using proprietary yeast strains capable of producing a scalable, bio-organism sourced aromatic. 3-MA volatilizes during fermentation, enabling capture at high purities. This technology enables a faster, less disruptive transition to liquid biofuels.  Utilizing a proprietary, engineered S. cerevisiae yeast strain, feedstocks such as starch, sugar and cellulosic sugars are efficiently converted into this valuable aromatic.

Capable of Utilizing a Wide Array of 1G and 2G Feedstock without Impacting the Purity of Production.

3-MA is a highly hydrophobic molecule.  This hydrophobicity causes
the 3-MA molecules to volatilize from the broth during the fermentation process.

3-MA volatilization from the fermentation broth is a unique characteristic to past biofuels and biochemical production technologies

  • 3-MA is produced one molecule at a time by VIA’s yeast
  • 3-MA is hydrophobic and is driven out of the water-based broth
  • Volatilization eliminates toxicity effects
  • Volatilization eliminates downstream processing & separation requirements and issues

Volatilization allows 3-MA to be produced in a “continuous fermentation” process.  “Capturing” volatilized 3-MA results in a high purity product and eliminates the energy intensive downstream distillation steps required for Ethanol manufacture.  Continuous fermentation and capture build a very strong business case for the widespread commercialization of aromatic 3-MA.

Continuous
Fermentation

Continuous Fermentation

Meet the Team

Lewis J. Dutel

Lewis J. Dutel

CEO

BS Mechanical Engineering,
University of Louisiana
Lafayette

Philip J. Barr, PhD.

Philip J. Barr, PhD.

CSO

PhD Organic Chemistry,
University of California
San Francisco

Charles K. Marlowe, PhD.

Charles K. Marlowe, PhD.

EVP Chemistry

PhD Organic Chemistry,
University of California
Berkeley

Brent J. Konstanzer

Brent J. Konstanzer

CFO

BS Civil Engineering,
Louisiana State University.
MBA, Rice University