Polymers without Petrochemicals: Sustainable Routes to Conventional Monomers

Abstract

Access to a wide range of plastic materials has been rationalized by the increased demand from growing populations and the development of high-throughput production systems. Plastic materials at low costs with reliable properties have been utilized in many everyday products. Multibillion-dollar companies are established around these plastic materials, and each polymer takes years to optimize, secure intellectual property, comply with the regulatory bodies such as the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals and the Environmental Protection Agency and develop consumer confidence. Therefore, developing a fully sustainable new plastic material with even a slightly different chemical structure is a costly and long process. Hence, the production of the common plastic materials with exactly the same chemical structures that does not require any new registration processes better reflects the reality of how to address the critical future of sustainable plastics. In this review, we have highlighted the very recent examples on the synthesis of common monomers using chemicals from sustainable feedstocks that can be used as a like-for-like substitute to prepare conventional petrochemical-free thermoplastics.

Herbaceous plants-derived hydroxycinnamic units for constructing recyclable and controllable copolyesters

“…[1][2][3][4] Producing recyclable and biodegradable polymers from sustainable biomass feedstocks, together with comparable or improved material properties, has received great attention in academia and industry. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] In recent years, a variety of biobased aliphatic polyesters from edible sugars, such as polylactic acid (PLA), 12 polybutylene succinate (PBS), 13 and polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), 14 have been successfully used commercially. Alternatively, synthetic routes for aliphatic monomers from nonedible lignocellulosic biomass, such as butanediol (BDO) from hemicellulose, 15,16 and adipic acid (AA) from cellulose, 17,18 have also been established recently (Fig.…”

Fully Bio‐based Poly(ketal‐ester)s by Ring‐opening Polymerization of a Bicylcic Lactone from Glycerol and Levulinic Acid

“…Degradable polymers from renewable resources have been attracting much attention in polymer science because of the concerned long-term short supply of fossil resources and the environmental problems caused by the increased consumption of non-degradable polymers. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] In this context, raw materials from renewable resources, such as plant oils, carbohydrates, lignin, terpenes, amino acids, and rosins, have been widely investigated as building blocks for polymers. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] In particular, polyesters derived from naturally occurring precursors have been developed as perspective degradable biomaterials and bioplastics owing to their potential biodegradability and good biocompatibility.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] In this context, raw materials from renewable resources, such as plant oils, carbohydrates, lignin, terpenes, amino acids, and rosins, have been widely investigated as building blocks for polymers. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] In particular, polyesters derived from naturally occurring precursors have been developed as perspective degradable biomaterials and bioplastics owing to their potential biodegradability and good biocompatibility. [21][22][23][24][25][26] For instance, polylactic acid (PLA), one of the most widely investigated bio-based and biodegradable polyester, has been widely used as packing materials, extracellular matrix for tissue engineering, and carriers in drug delivery.…”

Green synthesis of δ-lactam from biomass-derived 4-hydroxy-6-methylpyridin-2(1H)-one

“…However, these metabolic pathways can suffer from drawbacks, such as low-efficiency and difficulty in product separation accompanied by producing a large amount of wastewater. 11 Hence, the development of an efficient catalytic system for the sustainable production of δ-lactams from a renewable biomass resource is highly desirable because of its indispensable monomer for performance-advantaged polyamides.…”