C1 chemistry: single-carbon building blocks for biomanufacturing
C1 chemistry works with single-carbon molecules, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, methanol, and related compounds, as the starting point for making larger, useful molecules. Because these inputs are abundant and not tied to crops, harvests, or farmland, C1 chemistry is emerging as a route to the industrial inputs a growing bioeconomy needs. Solarferm applies C1 chemistry together with engineered biology to make fermentation-grade sugar from carbon and energy.
What is C1 chemistry?
C1 chemistry is the chemistry of single-carbon molecules: compounds with one carbon atom such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), methane, methanol, formaldehyde, and formate. The field is concerned with converting and upgrading these small, abundant molecules into the larger, more complex molecules that industry runs on, fuels, chemicals, polymers, and feedstocks. It sits in contrast to the conventional approach, which starts from multi-carbon molecules already assembled by plants, the sugars and oils harvested from crops.
Why single-carbon feedstocks matter
Single-carbon molecules have drawn growing attention as industrial feedstocks because they are abundant, low in cost, and frequently available as industrial by-products. They also break a dependency: conventional industrial biology leans on refined sugars sourced from agriculture, which ties production to cropland, growing seasons, and food and feed markets. C1 feedstocks are not bound to any of those. As biology takes on a larger share of how the world makes physical things, with McKinsey estimating that as much as 60% of physical inputs to the global economy could in principle be produced biologically, the inputs that feed that production have to scale with it, and single-carbon molecules are one of the few feedstocks that can.
The C1 toolkit
Several chemical routes turn single-carbon molecules into more useful forms. Catalytic conversion can upgrade CO₂ and CO into methanol and other intermediates; electrochemical reduction can drive CO₂ to single-carbon products using energy rather than heat; and thermochemical routes operate where abundant carbon and energy are available. Each pathway has its own efficiency, energy, and cost profile, and much of the field's progress is about improving conversion and bringing cost down. The common thread is that the carbon comes from molecules already in industrial circulation rather than from a field of crops.
From C1 to useful molecules
On their own, single-carbon molecules are not the end product, they are the entry point. Once carbon is captured in a workable C1 form, chemistry and biology can build it up into chemicals, materials, fuels, and feedstocks, including sugar. Recent research has shown that making sugar directly from carbon is scientifically real: a cell-free system reported in Science assembled starch from CO₂ through engineered enzymatic steps at a rate the authors measured as 8.5-fold higher than starch formation in maize. How those single-carbon molecules are taken up and assembled by living systems is the subject of C1 biochemistry.
Where Solarferm fits
Solarferm works in this space. It combines C1 chemistry with engineered biology in a continuous process that converts carbon and energy into fermentation-grade sugar, and it licenses the technology so partners can produce that sugar on their own sites. The result is a sugar feedstock with the quality biomanufacturing needs, decoupled from cropland, harvests, and weather. Solarferm's public positioning is carbon-to-sugar: it produces fermentation-grade sugar from carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and energy. The single-carbon molecules described above are field-level examples, not a statement of Solarferm's specific inputs.
Frequently asked questions
What does C1 mean in chemistry?
C1 refers to single-carbon molecules, compounds containing one carbon atom, such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, and methanol.
What are examples of C1 feedstocks?
Carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, methanol, formaldehyde, and formate are the single-carbon molecules most used as feedstocks.
Why is C1 chemistry important for biomanufacturing?
It offers a route to industrial inputs that are abundant and not dependent on crops or farmland, which matters as demand for biomanufacturing feedstock grows.
How is C1 chemistry different from using sugar or crops?
Crop-derived feedstocks start from multi-carbon sugars assembled by plants; C1 chemistry starts from single-carbon molecules already in industrial circulation, decoupling supply from agriculture.
Does Solarferm use C1 chemistry?
Yes. Solarferm combines C1 chemistry and engineered biology to produce fermentation-grade sugar from carbon and energy.
References
- Jiang W, Hernández Villamor D, Peng H, Chen J, Liu L, Haritos VS, Ledesma-Amaro R. Metabolic engineering strategies to enable microbial utilization of C1 feedstocks. Nature Chemical Biology. 2021;17(8):845–855. doi:10.1038/s41589-021-00836-0
- Orsi E, Nikel PI, Nielsen LK, Donati S. Synergistic investigation of natural and synthetic C1-trophic microorganisms to foster a circular carbon economy. Nature Communications. 2023;14. doi:10.1038/s41467-023-42166-w
- Cai T, Sun H, Qiao J, et al. Cell-free chemoenzymatic starch synthesis from carbon dioxide. Science. 2021;373(6562):1523–1527. doi:10.1126/science.abh4049
- Puiggené Ò, Favoino G, Federici F, Partipilo M, Orsi E, Alván-Vargas MVG, et al. Seven critical challenges in synthetic one-carbon assimilation and their potential solutions. FEMS Microbiology Reviews. 2025;49:fuaf011. doi:10.1093/femsre/fuaf011
- McKinsey Global Institute. The Bio Revolution: innovations transforming economies, societies, and our lives. McKinsey & Company. 2020. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/life-sciences/our-insights/the-bio-revolution-innovations-transforming-economies-societies-and-our-lives Accessed 14 June 2026.