Patent ID: 8778642

Claim:
A method of producing a α,ω difunctional Cn alkane from α-ketoglutarate wherein the α and ωterminal functional groups are selected from the group of —OH, —COOH and —NH3 and wherein n is an integer in the range of 5 to 8 comprising: culturing an engineered host cell under conditions sufficient to produce the α,ω difunctional Cn alkane, wherein the host cell comprises one or more exogenous nucleotide sequences encoding at least one polypeptide selected from homocitrate synthase (EC 2.3.3.-), homoaconitase, and homoisocitrate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.-), and wherein the one or more exogenous nucleotide sequences encodes at least one polypeptide selected from an amino transferase, a decarboxylase, and a combination thereof; and separating said α,ω difunctional Cn alkane.