Production of isosorbide from biomass as a substitute for bisphenol A

Abstract

In order to meet the sustainability criteria demanded by today's society and industry, it is necessary to work with eco-efficient processes, i.e. "producing more with less", in a way that promotes better management of resources and energy while minimising environmental impacts. Hence the importance of the term "biomass". Meeting the growing needs of plastic production while improving sustainability has been a major focus of academic and industrial research. Creating a new generation of sustainable biomass-derived materials as competitive alternatives to petroleum-based plastics can be challenging due to the need for these new materials to match both the performance and cost-effectiveness of commonly used petroplastics. This work aims to cover the most relevant catalytic strategies designed for the conversion of sorbitol, a biomass-derived platform molecule, to isosorbide. Thus, it is shown which is the best pretreatment to separate the lignocellulosic biomass, the subsequent hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose (or other C6 sugars), how from this sugar sorbitol is obtained and how from this sugar the isosorbide molecule is obtained. Isosorbide has been shown to be a good substitute for bisphenol A, as it is a molecule with very similar characteristics but is less toxic to human health and the environment