Patent ID: 8110382

Claim:
A process for producing glycolic acid from formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide comprising: (a) providing an aqueous formaldehyde feed stream that is heated to a temperature of about 90° C. to about 150° C. for a determinable period of time; (b) contacting the heated aqueous feed stream of (a) with hydrogen cyanide at a temperature suitable for glycolonitrile synthesis, whereby glycolonitrile is produced; (c) contacting the glycolonitrile of step (b) in a suitable aqueous reaction mixture with an enzyme catalyst comprising a polypeptide having nitrilase activity, said polypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:6 substituted at amino acid residue 168 with valine and substituted at amino acid residue 201 with asparagine, whereby glycolic acid is produced; and (d) recovering the glycolic acid produced in (c) in the form of a salt or acid.