Abstract
The design and preparation of polymers by using biobased chemicals is regarded as an important strategy towards a sustainable polymer chemistry. Herein, two aromatic diols, 4-(hydroxymethyl)-2-methoxyphenol and 2-(4-(hydroxymethyl)-2-methoxyphenoxy)ethanol, have been prepared in good yields through the direct reduction of vanillin and hydroxyethylated vanillin (4-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-3-methoxybenzaldehyde) using NaBH4, respectively. The diols were submitted to traditional polycondensation and polyaddition with acyl chlorides and diisocyanatos, and serials of new polyesters and polyurethanes were prepared in high yields with moderate molecular weight ranging from 17,000 to 40,000 g mol−1. Their structures were characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and FTIR, and their thermal properties were studied by TGA and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), indicating that the as-prepared polyesters and polyurethanes have Tg in the range of 16.2 to 81.2 °C and 11.6 to 80.4 °C, respectively.
Highlights
With the continuous exploitation of petroleum-based resources, energy and materials, humanity faces serious challenges in terms of both climate change and the availability of useable resources [1].In particular, the use and disposal of non-degradable plastics in our daily lives leads to serious microplastic particle accumulation and pollution in both soil and aquatic environments [2]
The formyl group transformed to hydroxyl group which was demonstrated by the disappearance of the peak at 9.83 ppm and the appearance of 5.08 and 4.42 ppm in the 1 H NMR spectrum of HMEO (Figure S3)
Thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) reveals that all of these polyurethanes have excellent thermal stability, with an initial decomposition temperature (5% weight loss) between 229–280 °C
Summary
With the continuous exploitation of petroleum-based resources, energy and materials, humanity faces serious challenges in terms of both climate change and the availability of useable resources [1].In particular, the use and disposal of non-degradable plastics in our daily lives leads to serious microplastic particle accumulation and pollution in both soil and aquatic environments [2]. With the continuous exploitation of petroleum-based resources, energy and materials, humanity faces serious challenges in terms of both climate change and the availability of useable resources [1]. Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant biomass resources on the planet with more than 75 billion tons available per year [4], and the use of them to produce energy, chemicals and materials is anticipated to reduce our dependence on fossil resources, contributing to development of bio-economy [5,6]. There has been significant interest in the catalytic conversion of lignocellulose to bio-based platform molecules [9,10]. A variety of aromatic chemicals can be obtained by catalytic conversion of lignin, including eugenol, vanillin, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde and terephthalic acid [1,12].
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