Alternative Monomers Based on Lignocellulose and Their Use for Polymer Production

Polymeric materials play a key role in modern industry. Owing to outstanding and very versatile properties of polymers, they have rather quickly occupied the great niche of commodities. World plastic production is continuously growing from 1.7 Mton/year in 1950 to 288 Mton/year in 2012. Fossil sources are still required for production of the major part of polymers, as only 5% of chemicals are currently produced from renewable feedstocks. Nevertheless, the application of natural chemicals as feedstocks for the manufacture of polymers is steadily increasing. Different motivations induce such a high interest toward new biobased materials. First of all, the global depletion of petroleum resources and their uneven spread over the world stimulate the rational use of biomass as a renewable and ubiquitous resource. Additionally, overwhelming of dumps with nondegradable plastics causes serious ecological problems, stimulating the developments toward new biodegradable materials. Here we have to point at the distinction between the terms “biobased” and “biodegradable”. Biobased products are manufactured from renewable sources, but several examples of biobased and nonbiodegradable products, e.g., biopolyethylene, biopolyamide 11, exist. It should be noted that each new material has to be tested for biodegradability before it can be claimed to be so. For example, linear polymers produced from itaconic acid are biodegradable, but cross-linking of the polymer chains slows down the biodegradation