Itaconic acid – a versatile building block for renewable polyesters with enhanced functionality

Abstract

Itaconic acid has attracted considerable attention as a bio-based building block in radical polymerizations. However, only a few studies have been dedicated to polyesters derived from this interesting α,β-unsaturated dicarbonic acid. This review aims to highlight the most important work in this field and show the unique properties of these renewable unsaturated polyesters.

Wholly biomass derivable sustainable polymers by ring-opening metathesis polymerisation of monomers obtained from furfuryl alcohol and itaconic anhydride

“…8,9,10 Furfural 4 is also already produced in large quantities (hundreds of thousands of tonnes per year) from agricultural waste, 11 Furan derivatives 2-4, alongside itaconic acid 1, are already widely anticipated to be key platform molecules for the bio-based chemicals industry of the future. 12,13 Poly(alkyl)itaconates, and their copolymers, derived from esters of itaconic acid, 14,15 and prepared by conventional radical polymerisations, 16,17,18,19 are well established in the literature as are polyesters derived from itaconic acid and a diol. 20 However, simple poly(alkyl)itaconates invariably have a glass transition temperature (T g ) well below room temperature, resulting in gum-like materials.…”

Going greener: Synthesis of fully biobased unsaturated polyesters for styrene crosslinked resins with enhanced thermomechanical properties

“…However, the increasing environmental concerns, as well as the need to develop sustainable alternatives to fossil based monomers, have led to a remarkable interest in the development of biobased UPRs (BioUPRs). In the market, there are already a considerable number of available renewable monomers for the synthesis of UPs and UPRs [6][7][8] and, in the last years, some authors have focused their work on the development of UPRs partially based on these raw materials [4,[9][10][11]. The work of Gonçalves et al [4] reports the preparation of UPRs for microstereo-thermal-lithography (μSTL), with a biobased content between 24 and 47 wt%.…”

Production of lovastatin and itaconic acid by Aspergillus terreus: a comparative perspective

“…The former has a wide range of applications in polymer manufacturing (Robert and Friebel 2016; Willke and Vorlop 2001), while the latter is used as a cholesterol-lowering drug and a starting material for the production of semisynthetic statins in the pharmaceutical industry (Tobert 2003). These two molecules are the textbook examples of industrially relevant fungal metabolites.…”