Sustainable Polythioesters via Thio(no)lactones: Monomer Synthesis, Ring-Opening Polymerization, End-of-Life Considerations, and Industrial Perspectives.

As the environmental effects of plastics are of ever greater concern, the industry is driven towards more sustainable polymers. Besides sustainability, our fast-developing society imposes the need for highly versatile materials. Whereas aliphatic polyesters (PEs) are widely adopted and studied as next-generation biobased and (bio)degradable materials, their sulfur-containing analogs, polythioesters (PTEs), only recently gained attention.

Chemoselective formation of cyclo-aliphatic and cyclo-olefinic 1,3-diols pressure hydrogenation of potentially biobased platform molecules using Knölker-type catalysts.

The hydrogenative conversions of the biobased platform molecules 4-hydroxycyclopent-2-enone and cyclopentane-1,3-dione to their corresponding 1,3-diols are established using a pre-activated Knölker-type iron catalyst. The catalyst exhibits a high selectivity for ketone reduction, and does not induce dehydration. Moreover, by using different substituents of the ligand, the cis-trans ratio of the products can be affected substantially.

Hydrogenation of Cyclic 1,3-Diones to Their 1,3-Diols Using Heterogeneous Catalysts: Toward a Facile, Robust, Scalable, and Potentially Bio-Based Route.

Cyclopentane-1,3-diol () has gained renewed attention as a potential building block for polymers and fuels because its synthesis from hemicellulose-derived 4-hydroxycyclopent-2-enone () was recently disclosed. However, cyclopentane-1,3-dione (), which is a constitutional isomer of , possesses a higher chemical stability and can therefore afford higher carbon mass balances and higher yields of in the hydrogenation reaction under more concentrated conditions. In this work, the hydrogenation of into over a commercial Ru/C catalyst was systematically investigated on a bench scale through kinetic studies and variation of reaction conditions.