Samenvatting

The invention relates to the field of green chemistry and renewable carbon sources, more in particular to the synthesis of (R)-3-hydroxybutyric acid using renewable carbon feedstock as starting materials. Provided is a method for the manufacture of a (R)-hydroxybutyric acid salt, comprising: (i) subjecting a starting material comprising polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) to an extraction/transesterification reaction using isobutanol in the presence of an acid to obtain the isobutyl ester of (R)-hydroxybutyric acid; and (ii) converting the isobutyl ester of (R)-hydroxybutyric acid to the corresponding salt.