Patent ID: 8114641

Claim:
A method for producing a methylbutyl ether product, comprising culturing a recombinant microorganism in a culture medium containing a carbon source, wherein said recombinant microorganism comprises at least one exogenous nucleic acid molecule, wherein said at least one exogenous nucleic acid molecule comprises a pyruvate decarboxylase or a pyruvate decarboxylase isoform derived from the genus Pichia and an alcohol dehydrogenase derived from the genus Saccharomyces; further wherein said recombinant microorganism is a member of a genus selected from the group consisting of Clostridium, Zymomonas, Escherichia, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Klebsiella, Corynebacterium, Pichia , and Saccharomyces; wherein the recombinant microorganism produces spent culture medium from the culture medium by metabolizing the carbon source to 2-methylbutanol; recovering said 2-methylbutanol from the spent culture medium; and converting said 2-methylbutanol to a methylbutyl ether product comprising one or more of 1-(isopentyloxy)-3-methylbutane, 2-methyl-1-(2-methylbutoxy)butane, 1-(isopentyloxy)-2-methylbutane, 2-methyl-1-(tert-pentyloxy)butane, and 2-methyl-2-(tert-pentyloxy)butane.