Diacid building blocks are essential starting materials in plastic production. However, the main source of diacid monomers continues to be petroleum, making it important to find sustainable alternatives. Biomass is a renewable feedstock with the potential to be an economical and green starting material for plastic production. Mega crop waste is a primary source for biobased acids, such as <i>p</i>-coumaric acid. These are mainly derived from grain harvest waste, which is a readily available material making this alternative feedstock economical. In this presentation, I will show that photochemistry is a simple green and economical method for the production of plastic building blocks. UV-light has been found to form diacid monomers from these biomass-derived acids through a [2+2] photocycloaddition. Standard UV-A blacklights have been utilized as the UV energy source for the synthesis of these plastic precursors under mild conditions. These reactions have been further optimized by utilizing a slurry reaction within a green solvent alternative, brine. The results found a similar yield and purity in comparison to a typical organic solvent (e.g., hexane), while being more economical and environmentally beneficial. Each aspect of this study has environmental and economic advantages making this a promising reaction for plastic production.  This biomass derived photodimer has the potential to be a novel building block in green plastic synthesis.

Biobased photodimer synthesis in green medium with blacklights

ACS Fall 2021

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