Chemo-enzymatic Synthesis, Derivatizations, and Polymerizations of Renewable Phenolic Monomers Derived from Ferulic Acid and Biobased Polyols : An access to Sustainable Copolyesters, Poly(esther-urethane)s, and Poly(ester-alkenamer)s
Résumé
The synthesis of monomers as well as polymers from plant fats, oils, and sugars has already found some industrial application and recent developments in this field offer promising new opportunities. In this field, many bio-based aliphatic polymers, exhibiting smooth biodegradability, have been developed. Nevertheless, the applications of these polymers are limited because of their poor thermal properties and durability. In order to alleviate these drawbacks, introduction of aromatic subunits is an efficient method for improving the performances of this type of materials. Nevertheless, many key commercial aromatics are derived from petrochemical feedstocks. Therefore, most recently, much focus has been placed on bio-based aromatic compounds to replace monomers and polymers such as bisphenol A, styrene, methylene diisocyanate, phenol resins, aromatic polyesters. In this context, we put a great deal of effort into developing new aromatic chemical platforms from ferulic acid, a natural p-hydroxycinnamic acid found in lignocellulose. Obtained through a chemo-enzymatic synthetic process, these phenolic platforms have been used as A2-type monomers for the preparation of renewable aliphatic-aromatic copolyesters and poly(ester-urethane)s, and as precursors for the synthesis of α,ω-dienes monomers leading to poly(ester-alkenamer)s. The structure and thermal properties of these novel bio-based polymers deriving from ferulic acid were studied in order to evaluate their potential in industrial applications.