Chemical building blocks from renewable resources

Research on alternative chemical feedstock highlighted by the American Chemical Society

Research on alternative chemical feedstock development carried out in the Department has just been highlighted by the American Chemical Society as an Editors’ Choice article after publication in one of their journals. PhD researcher Sanan Eminov and his supervisors, Dr Jason Hallett and Dr James Wilton-Ely, have developed a highly active and selective system for converting common sugars into chemical building blocks. The system comprises chromium metal salts dissolved in tailor-made ‘ionic liquid’ solvents.

The renewable chemical feedstock, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) has been identified by leading energy agencies (most notably the US Department of Energy) as a key chemical target for replacing fossil fuel-based materials production with more environmentally benign renewable materials. Normally, 5-HMF production from sugars is difficult and proceeds at low yields under harsh and environmentally hazardous conditions. However, the Department’s research published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering uses principles of green chemistry to reduce waste and environmental impact from this process. This opens up a wide variety of potential fuels and materials that can be produced from ‘carbon neutral’ renewable resources, such as plants, trees and agricultural waste, reducing our dependence on petroleum for fuels, chemicals and plastics.

Sanan Eminov is one of many PhD students working in the Department (and elsewhere around the world) to come through the MRes Green Chemistry Programme

The ACS Editor’s Choice article is open access and can be found on the ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering website http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/sc400553q