Novel biobased photo-crosslinked polymer networks prepared from vegetable oil and 2,5-furan diacrylate

Work-hardening Photopolymer from Renewable Photoactive 3,3'-(2,5-Furandiyl)bisacrylic Acid

The design of a photopolymer around a renewable furan-derived chromophore is presented herein. An optimised semi-continuous oxidation method using MnO2 affords 2,5-diformylfuran from 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural in gram quantities, allowing the subsequent synthesis of 3,3'-(2,5-furandiyl)bisacrylic acid in good yield and excellent stereoselectivity. The photoactivity of the diester of this monomer is confirmed by reaction under UV irradiation, and the proposed [2+2] cycloaddition mechanism supported further by TD-DFT calculations. Oligoesters of the photoreactive furan diacid with various aliphatic diols are prepared via chemo- and enzyme-catalysed polycondensation. The latter enzyme-catalysed (Candida antarctica lipase B) method results in the highest Mn (3.6 kDa), suggesting milder conditions employed with this protocol minimised unwanted side reactions, including untimely [2+2] cycloadditions, whilst preserving the monomer's photoactivity and stereoisomerism. The photoreactive polyester is solvent cast into a film where subsequent initiator-free UV curing leads to an impressive increase in the material stiffness, with work-hardening characteristics observed during tensile strength testing.

Tunable and selective conversion of 5-HMF to 2,5-furandimethanol and 2,5-dimethylfuran over copper-doped porous metal oxides

Tunable and selective hydrogenation of the platform chemical 5-hydroxymethylfurfural into valuable C6 building blocks and liquid fuel additives is achieved with copper-doped porous metal oxides in ethanol. A new catalyst composition with improved hydrogenation/hydrogenolysis activity is obtained by introducing small amounts of ruthenium dopant into the previously reported Cu(0.59) Mg2.34 Al1.00 structure. At a mild reaction temperature (100 °C), 2,5-furandimethanol is obtained with excellent selectivity up to >99%. Higher reaction temperatures (220 °C) favor selective deoxygenation to 2,5-dimethylfuran and minor product 2,5-dimethyltetrahydrofuran with a combined yield as high as 81%. Notably, these high product yields are maintained at a substrate concentration up to 10 wt% and a low catalyst loading. The influence of different alcohol solvents on product selectivity is explored. Furthermore, reaction intermediates formed at different reaction temperatures are identified. The composition of these product mixtures provides mechanistic insight into the nature of the reduction pathways that influence product selectivity. The catalysts are characterized by elemental analysis, TEM, and BET techniques before and after the reaction. Catalyst recycling experiments are conducted in batch and in a continuous-flow setup.