Pinenes: Abundant and Renewable Building Blocks for a Variety of Sustainable Polymers

Abstract

Pinenes, a group of monoterpenes containing a double bond, are very suitable renewable building blocks for a variety of sustainable polymers and materials. Their abundance from mainly non-edible parts of plants as well as the feasibility to isolate them render these molecules unique amongst the variety of biomass that is utilizable for novel materials. Accordingly, their use for the synthesis of biobased polymers has been investigated intensively, and strong progress has been made with this especially within the past 2-3 years. Direct cationic or radical polymerization via the double bonds as well as polymerization upon their further functionalization can afford a variety of sustainable polymers suitable for many applications, which is summarized in this Minireview.

Keywords: pinenes; polyamides; polyesters; sustainable polymers; terpenes.