Levoglucosan and levoglucosenone as bio-based platforms for polymer synthesis

Abstract

Levoglucosan (LGA) and levoglucosenone (LGO) are compounds readily obtained from biomass via pyrolysis of cellulose and represent a renewable pathway to prepare monomeric building blocks to synthesise polymeric materials. LGO is available on industry scale through the production of Cyrene™ via the Furacell™ process. This review examines the literature in this field while providing a future outlook on the use of these compounds in materials synthesis. A variety of LGA and LGO-based polymers are presented, including condensation polymers such as polyesters, polysaccharides via ring opening polymerization, metathesis based polymers and photopolymerized thermosets. The materials properties as well as the sustainability and environmental impact of these syntheses is discussed.