CLEAN – Soil, Air, Water

Review: Over the last few years, biomass as a source of renewable carbon has experienced a huge upsurge in research and commercial interest. Several aspects of biorefinery operation are briefly reviewed, and it is illustrated how integration of chemical and fuel production is an effective means to ensure the biorefinery's economic viability.

Review: Methods for the production of 1,3-propanediol (PDO) by focusing on four feedstocks: glycerol, ethylene oxide, acrolein, and glucose are reviewed. The expanding uses of PDO have stimulated considerable research into cost effective preparations. Both fermentation-based routes and organometallic catalyst-based routes have been commercialized.

Research Article: A mechanism for the cracking of oleic acid, an unsaturated fatty acid commonly found in plant, animal, and microbial sources, over a zeolite catalyst as a model for the conversion of plant triglycerides into transportation fuels is determined. The result could be of importance to elucidate the reaction mechanism of cracking vegetable oils and animal fats for producing gasoline-like mixtures using zeolites, which contain Lewis and Bronsted acid sites.

Research Article: A potentially commercial approach to the production of epichlorohydrin, a high volume industrial product, from glycerol, a renewable feedstock whose cost has dropped significantly in the last several years, is described. The development of the process that additionally features a number of environmentally desirable attributes compared to the incumbent process, its optimization, and its mechanism are predented.

Research Article: An alternate approach to modify lignin composition by introducing in situ peptide cross-links is reported. The hypothesis is that introducing in situ peptide cross-links should not change overall lignin content or distribution in the cell wall, yet should render the lignin more susceptible to protease digestion. Although preliminary, these results suggest that this may be a viable means to facilitate lignin removal and potentially advance the utilization of woody biomass as a biofuel feedstock.

Communication: In continuation of the research to develop highly efficient catalysts for the biorenewable processes, the ethenolysis reactions of methyl oleate using various ruthenium carbene-based catalysts are reported. Olefin metathesis enables new alternatives for the development of new oleochemicals for agrochemicals, insect pheromones, waxes, and pharmaceuticals from unsaturated vegetable oils.

Research Article: Many factors drive the utilization of renewable biomass for energy, fine chemical and polymeric applications. An extraction of hemicellulose accomplished under the right conditions can generate a non-trivial amount of chemicals. Chemical changes that occur across a range of extraction conditions when oriented strand board (OSB) style flakes are used as substrate for extraction are quantified.

Research Article: Optically active network polyesters are prepared from malic acids and their biodegradability in enzymatic solution and in activated sludge is investigated. In addition, biodegradable polyesters of gluconolactone with citric acid are developed. The application and biodegradability of these network polyesters for future technological applications are also discussed.

Research Article: The article details the synthesis and DSC study of a series of branched compounds synthesized from bio-based methyl oleate. The work shows a nice change of conditions to shift the reaction to the desired product. Details of the syntheses, characterization (GC/MS and NMR), and low-temperature properties of the products are discussed.

Research Article: A novel process is developed for the economical production of high quality biobased polyols by the ozonolysis of mixtures of vegetable oils. The described soybean oil-derived polyols use a significant amount of glycerin, a co-product of biodiesel production, thus, contributing to the long term viability of the emerging biodiesel, biorefinery economy.

Research Article: The properties of epoxidized oleochemicals, which are relevant for lubricant applications, are reported. These include oxidative stability, pour point, and the coefficient of friction. In addition, a method for qualitatively comparing lubricants by simple examination of worn surfaces generated during friction testing, is also presented.

Research Article: The incorporation of a byproduct of polylactide (PLA) production, gypsum, as well as novel carbon nanospheres (CNS) produced from cellulose into PLA is explored. There is potential for these fillers to offset the use of mined materials in bioplastic PLA.