2,3-BDO is important industrial chemicals and a medicinal precursor, for example, the 2,3-BDO can form 1,3-butadiene through
dehydration and can be used for synthesizing rubber,
polyester and
polyurethane; the esterified 2,3-BDO is a precursor of synthetic polyimine, and can be applied to medicaments,
cosmetics, washing liquor liquid and the like; and in addition, the 2,3-BDO can also be used as a
flavor substance to be added into distilled spirit and cream. The 2,3-BDO can be prepared by a
chemical synthesis method and a
microorganism production method, and due to a special structure of 2,3-
butanediol, in the chemical method for producing the 2,3-
butanediol, the 2,3-
butanediol is mainly prepared by hydrolyzing four-carbon
hydrocarbon generated during the splitting
decomposition of
petroleum at the high temperature and under the
high pressure and has the disadvantages of high cost, complicated processes and difficult operation, so the large-scale industrial production is difficult to realize all the time. With the increasing rise in oil price, people pay close attention to the production of the 2, 3-butanediol by using the microbial
fermentation method and the developmental research of derivatives thereof gradually. The
fermentation method for producing the 2,3-butanediol has the following advantages that: firstly, the
fermentation method has the superiority in cost, and the chemical method has high production cost; secondly, the fermentation method has an environmental-friendly characteristic, and the 2,3-butanediol is used as an
organic synthesis intermediate to occupy markets of a number of compounds and other
petroleum chemicals, has wide prospect, obvious social and environmental benefits, and is particularly favorable for the extensive application of the products; and thirdly, in the fermentation method for producing the 2,3-butanediol, renewable resources are used as raw materials, so the fermentation method does not depend on the
petroleum chemicals.