Biobased 2,5-Bis(hydroxymethyl)furan as a Versatile Building Block for Sustainable Polymeric Materials

Cornelis Post; Dina Maniar; Vincent S D Voet; Rudy Folkersma; Katja Loos

doi:10.1021/acsomega.2c07629

Biobased 2,5-Bis(hydroxymethyl)furan as a Versatile Building Block for Sustainable Polymeric Materials

ACS Omega. 2023 Mar 2;8(10):8991-9003. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.2c07629. eCollection 2023 Mar 14.

Authors

Cornelis Post^{1

2}, Dina Maniar¹, Vincent S D Voet², Rudy Folkersma², Katja Loos¹

Affiliations

¹ Macromolecular Chemistry & New Polymeric Materials, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
² Circular Plastics, NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences, Van Schaikweg 94, 7811 KL Emmen, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Furanic polymers, currently mainly represented by polyethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate (PEF), also known as polyethylene furanoate, have a fantastic potential to replace fossil-based polymers: for example, polyethylene terephthalate (PET). While 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), a precursor of PEF, and its derived polymers have been studied extensively, 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)furan (BHMF) has received relatively little attention so far. Similarly to FDCA, BHMF is a biobased platform chemical derived from renewable sources such as sugars. This review highlights different polymerization techniques for BHMF-based polyesters and addresses BHMF's relative instability during the synthesis of BHMF-derived polymers, including polycarbonates and polyurethanes. Furthermore, the degradability of furanic polyesters is discussed and BHMF's toxicity is briefly elaborated.

Publication types

Review