Green Commodity Chemicals

Research Project, 2020 – 2024

The project targets increased knowledge about catalytic valorisation of low-cost biomass into green commodity chemicals to support a sustainable production of a wide range of more complex chemicals and materials. Production of bulk commodities ensure flexible use as drop-in chemicals. Thus, the commercial risks are low and the potential to contribute to resource efficiency and a renewable energy system is high. The basic idea is to seize the complexity in the naturally occurring five-membered ring aromatics in hemicellulose and valorise these to six-membered ring aromatics through formation of new carbon-carbon bonds in a Diels-Alder-like prototypical catalytic reaction. New catalysts will be systematically tailored and studied by state-of-the-art operando spectroscopic characterisation techniques. Reaction mechanisms will be mapped out and catalyst structure-function relationships will be established. This will be used to formulate design principles for future catalysts and processes.