Blended nexus molecules promote CO2 to l-tyrosine conversion | Science Advances

Using CO ₂ as the primary feedstock offers the potential for high-value utilization of CO ₂ while forging sustainable pathways for producing valuable natural products, such as l -tyrosine. Cascade catalysis is a promising approach but limited by stringent purity demands of nexus molecules. We developed an abiotic/biotic cascade catalysis using blended nexus molecules for l -tyrosine synthesis. Specifically, we begin by constructing a solid-state reactor to reduce CO ₂ electrochemically, yielding a mixture of acetic acid and ethanol, which serves as the blended nexus molecules. Subsequently, we use genetic engineering to introduce an ethanol utilization pathway and a tyrosine producing pathway to Escherichia coli to facilitate l -tyrosine production. The ethanol pathway synergistically cooperated with the acetic acid pathway, boosting l -tyrosine production rate (nearly five times higher compared to the strain without ethanol utilization pathway) and enhancing carbon efficiency. Our findings demonstrate that using blended nexus molecules could potentially offer a more favorable strategy for the cascade catalysis aimed at producing valuable natural products.