Adding value to plant oils and fatty acids: Biological transformation of fatty acids into ω-hydroxycarboxylic, α,ω-dicarboxylic, and ω-aminocarboxylic acids.

Not only short chain ω-hydroxycarboxylic acids, α,ω-dicarboxylic acids, and ω-aminocarboxylic acids but also medium to long chain carboxylic acids are widely used as building blocks and intermediates in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and food industries. Thereby, recent achievements in biological production of medium to long chain carboxylic acids are addressed here. ω-Hydroxycarboxylic and α,ω-dicarboxylic acids were synthesized via terminal CH bond oxygenation of fatty acids and/or internal oxidative cleavage of the fatty acid carbon skeletons. ω-Aminocarboxylic acids were enzymatically produced from ω-hydroxycarboxylic acids via ω-oxocarboxylic acids. Productivities and product yields of some of the products are getting close to the industrial requirements for large scale production.