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Background  Efficient microbial production of chemicals is often hindered by the cytotoxicity of the products or by the pathogenicity of the host strains. Hence 2,3-butanediol, an important drop-in chemical, is an interesting alternative target molecule for microbial synthesis since it is non-cytotoxic. Metabolic engineering of non-pathogenic and industrially relevant microorganisms, such as  Escherichia coli , have already yielded in promising 2,3-butanediol titers showing the potential of microbial synthesis of 2,3-butanediol. However, current microbial 2,3-butanediol production processes often rely on yeast extract as expensive additive, rendering these processes infeasible for industrial production.    Results  The aim of this study was to develop an efficient 2,3-butanediol production process with  E. coli  operating on the premise of using cost-effective medium without complex supplements, considering second generation feedstocks. Different gene donors and promoter fine-tuning allowed for construction of a potent  E. coli  strain for the production of 2,3-butanediol as important drop-in chemical. Pulsed fed-batch cultivations of  E. coli  W using microaerobic conditions showed high diol productivity of 4.5 g l −1  h −1 . Optimizing oxygen supply and elimination of acetoin and by-product formation improved the 2,3-butanediol titer to 68 g l −1 , 76% of the theoretical maximum yield, however, at the expense of productivity. Sugar beet molasses was tested as a potential substrate for industrial production of chemicals. Pulsed fed-batch cultivations produced 56 g l −1  2,3-butanediol, underlining the great potential of  E. coli  W as production organism for high value-added chemicals.    Conclusion  A potent 2,3-butanediol producing  E. coli  strain was generated by considering promoter fine-tuning to balance cell fitness and production capacity. For the first time, 2,3-butanediol production was achieved with promising titer, rate and yield and no acetoin formation from glucose in pulsed fed-batch cultivations using chemically defined medium without complex hydrolysates. Furthermore, versatility of  E. coli  W as production host was demonstrated by efficiently converting sucrose from sugar beet molasses into 2,3-butanediol.    Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (10.1186/s12934-018-1038-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Engineered E. coli W enables efficient 2,3-butanediol production from glucose and sugar beet molasses using defined minimal medium as economic basis