Using recombinant aromatic decarboxylases expressed in E. coli, various phenol derivatives could be carboxylated in the presence of KHCO3 and salt-forming quaternary ammonium salts to the corresponding hydroxy-benzoic acids such as salicylic acid in yields up to 97 %.
CAS news release, March 15, 2016
CAS Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology succeeds in high-yield enzymatic Kolbe-Schmitt reaction