Lignin-Derived Advanced Carbon Materials.

Lignin is a highly abundant source of renewable carbon that can be considered as a valuable sustainable source of biobased materials. By applying specific pretreatments and manufacturing methods, lignin can be converted into a variety of value-added carbon materials. However, the physical and chemical heterogeneities of lignin complicate its use as a feedstock.

Sulfonic acid resin-catalyzed addition of phenols, carboxylic acids, and water to olefins: Model reactions for catalytic upgrading of bio-oil.

Acid-catalyzed 1-octene reactions with phenol and mixtures of phenol with water, acetic acid and 1-butanol were studied as partial bio-oil upgrading models. Bio-oil from fast biomass pyrolysis has poor fuel properties due to the presence of substantial amounts of water, carboxylic acid, phenolic derivatives and other hydroxyl-containing compounds. Additions across olefins offer a route to simultaneously lower water content and acidity while increasing hydrophobicity, stability and heating value.

Tandem reactions of 1,3-diacid chlorides with 2-methylimidazoline and 2-methyl-1,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidine: one-pot synthesis of 1,8-naphthyridinetetraones.

The reactions of 2-methylimidazoline and 2-methyl-1,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidine with 1,3-diacid chlorides, in the presence of Et3N in refluxing MeCN give highly functionalized potentially bioactive 1,8-naphthyridinetetraones. 2-Methylimidazoline and 2-methyl-1,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidine can be viewed as tridentate nucleophiles which give four consecutive tandem nucleophilic attacks on electrophiles.