Dear Colleagues,

Initially, the term ‘Biopolymers’ was used in the last decades to describe bio-degradable polymers mainly derived from fossil resources. In recent years, the meaning of this term shifted to describe biogenic polymers, i.e. materials derived by chemical and biochemical processes from biomass as a renewable resource. This field has grown extraordinarily fast in the last decade, powered by the increasing economic and ecologic evidence for the limitation of fossil resources and the corresponding search for alternative carbon resources. Therefore, creating a scientific and technical basis for a new era of sustainable chemical production and consumers’ behavior beyond the oil age becomes indispensable.

Among the various strategies to obtain polymer building blocks from biomass, the exploration of a pool of novel platform chemicals is particularly attractive. It allows at least in principle to re-design new value chains starting from the desired product properties. The individual transformation steps need to be opened up by means of novel homogeneous, heterogeneous as well as enzyme catalyzed processes and advanced technologies. A great potential for sustainable production processes and products is provided by lignocellulose as one of the most important raw material since waste streams can be utilized and no direct competition to the food chain occurs. Monomers derived thereof can be applied in the production of conventional polymers or used as co-monomers resulting in improved properties. A largely unexplored potential for future polymer production is provided by novel platform chemicals that were not considered as monomers before and their respective novel polymeric compounds.

For a successful future development of this important field that will affect all of our daily lives sooner or later, the cooperation and exchange of knowledge of scientists from various fields such as catalysis, chemical engineering, polymeric chemistry, materials science and many more is mandatory. This special issue “Polymers from Biomass” is intended to contribute to this development by compiling reviews, full papers, and communications from leading experts in academia and industry.

Prof. Dr. Walter Leitner
Prof. Dr. Regina Palkovits
Guest Editors

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• biopolymers and biogenic building blocks
• monomers from biomass
• renewable resources
• catalytic conversion
• lignocellulose
• platform chemicals