Polymers From Furfural

Furfural is a promising starting material for renewable chemicals and plastics. Furfural is derived from variety of agricultural byproducts, mainly corn stover. When furfural derivatives such as furan and 5-bromo-2-furfural are irradiated together with ultraviolet light, difuran compounds are formed through a photochemical reaction. These materials are the potential starting blocks used to synthesize biodegradable polymers with excellent mechanical properties and thermal resistance. A protected-difurfural compound has been synthesized in 50–60% yield. However, the initial reactants and solvent can be recovered and reused in a secondary reactor to increase the overall yield of the reaction. Continued research has focused on the deprotection of the compound, its conversion to an alcohol, and polymer synthesis and characterization.