Mechano-chemically and microwave-assisted catalytic hydrodeoxygenation of sugar alcohols to polymer components

Sugar alcohols such as Xylitol and Sorbitol are an abundant and renewable carbon resource obtained from plant-generated sugars and starches or – preferably – the breakdown of (hemi-)cellulose into the soluble sugars Xylose and Glucose. Already established industrial processes currently running at > 2 million tons/year allow the facile conversion of these sugar to the corresponding C5 (xylitol) and C6 (sorbitol) sugar alcohols. The linear carbon-chain structure of these sugar alcohols predisposes them for conversion to the corresponding alpha,omega-diols 1,5-pentane-diol and1,6-hexanediol, which can be directly used in polyesters (fabrics) and polyurethanes (foams) and, with further modification, in polyamides (Nylon) displacing the non-renewable fossil hydrocarbon (i.e., crude oil) based feedstocks. This goal is however contingent on developing new green chemistry that uses a catalytic process to selectively remove the oxygen atoms connected to the internal carbons in the sugar alcohols, while leaving the terminal oxygens in place.

Faculty Supervisor:

Marcel Schlaf

Student:

Partner:

Imperial College London

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Guelph

Program: