Technology development for the production of biobased products from biorefinery carbohydrates—the US Department of Energy’s “Top 10” revisited

This critical review provides a survey illustrated by recent references of different strategies to achieve a sustainable conversion of biomass to bioproducts. Because of the huge number of chemical products that can be potentially manufactured, a selection of starting materials and targeted chemicals has been done. Also, thermochemical conversion processes such as biomass pyrolysis or gasification as well as the synthesis of biofuels were not considered. The synthesis of chemicals by conversion of platform molecules obtained by depolymerisation and fermentation of biopolymers is presently the most widely envisioned approach. Successful catalytic conversion of these building blocks into intermediates, specialties and fine chemicals will be examined. However, the platform molecule value chain is in competition with well-optimised, cost-effective synthesis routes from fossil resources to produce chemicals that have already a market. The literature covering alternative value chains whereby biopolymers are converted in one or few steps to functional materials will be analysed. This approach which does not require the use of isolated, pure chemicals is well adapted to produce high tonnage products, such as paper additives, paints, resins, foams, surfactants, lubricants, and plasticisers. Another objective of the review was to examine critically the green character of conversion processes because using renewables as raw materials does not exempt from abiding by green chemistry principles (368 references).

Conversion of biomass to selected chemical products

Lignocellulosic biomass: a sustainable platform for the production of bio-based chemicals and polymers

The demand for petroleum dependent chemicals and materials has been increasing despite the dwindling of their fossil resources. As the dead-end of petroleum based industry has started to appear, today's modern society has to implement alternative energy and valuable chemical resources immediately. Owing to the importance of lignocellulosic biomass being the most abundant and bio-renewable biomass on earth, this critical review provides insights into the potential of lignocellulosic biomass as an alternative platform to fossil resources. In this context, over 200 value-added compounds, which can be derived from lignocellulosic biomass by various treatment methods, are presented with their references. Lignocellulosic biomass based polymers and their commercial importance are also reported mainly in the frame of these compounds. This review article aims to draw the map of lignocellulosic biomass derived chemicals and their synthetic polymers, and to reveal the scope of this map in today's modern chemical and polymer industry.

The production of future transportation fuels and chemicals requires the deployment of new catalytic processes that transform biomass into valuable products under competitive conditions. Furfural has been identified as one of the most promising chemical platforms directly derived from biomass. With an annual production close to 300 kTon, furfural is currently a commodity chemical, and the technology for its production is largely established. The aim of this review is to discuss the most relevant chemical routes for converting furfural to chemicals, biofuels, and additives. This review focuses not only on industrially produced chemicals derived from furfural, but also on other not yet commercialised products that have a high potential for commercialisation as commodities. Other chemicals that are currently produced from oil but can also be derived from furfural are also reviewed. The chemical and engineering aspects such as the reaction conditions and mechanisms, as well as the main achievements and the challenges still to come in the pursuit of advancing the furfural-based industry, are highlighted.

/pdf/furfural-a-renewable-and-versatile-platform-molecule-for-the-4iuy4h5ydr.pdf

Furfural: a renewable and versatile platform molecule for the synthesis of chemicals and fuels

Succinic acid is predicted to be one of the future platform chemicals that can be derived from renewable resources. The improvements in biotechnological succinic acid production are presented. Chemical conversion pathways to γ-butyrolactone, tetrahydrofuran, 1,4-butanediole, and pyrrolidones are reviewed. An overview of possible new biopolymers (e. g. polyesters, polyamides, and poly(ester amide)s) based on succinic acid and its derivatives is given. Nevertheless, industrial processes using purified succinic acid from fermentation broths are not state of the art yet. Further improvements are needed until succinic acid-based chemical production will be economically favorable.

Andrea Springer

Papers

Succinic Acid: A New Platform Chemical for Biobased Polymers from Renewable Resources

List of Technical Reviewers