New Bio-Based Furanic Materials Effectively Absorb Metals from Water and Exert Antimicrobial Activity.

Development of sustainable bio-based materials for removal of toxic contaminants from water is a high priority goal. Novel bio-based binary and ternary copolymers with enhanced ion-exchange, adsorption and antibacterial properties were obtained by using plant biomass-derived diallyl esters of furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) as crosslinking agents and easily available vinyl monomers. The synthesized copolymer materials showed higher sorption capacities for NiII , CoII and CuII compared to the commercial ion-exchange resins, and they maintained their high metal adsorption capacities for over 10 cycles of regeneration. The synthesized copolymer gels containing 1-5 wt % of the crosslinker showed excellent water absorption capacities. The synthesized copolymers with 1 % crosslinker content showed swelling ratios high enough to also act as moisture absorbents. Synthesized copolymers with crosslinker content of 10 wt % performed as contact-active antibacterials by inhibiting the growth of Gram-positive (S. aureus) and Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli, K. pneumonia) in suspension tests.

Selective Synthesis of 2,5-Diformylfuran by Sustainable 4-acetamido-TEMPO/Halogen-Mediated Electrooxidation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural.

A new method was developed for the selective gram-scale synthesis of 2,5-diformylfuran (DFF), which is an important chemical with a high application potential, via oxidation of biomass-derived 5-hydroxylmethylfurfural (HMF) catalyzed by 4-acetylamino-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (4-AcNH-TEMPO) in a two-phase system consisting of a methylene chloride and aqueous solution containing sodium hydrogen carbonate and potassium iodide. The key feature of this method is the generation of the I2 (co-)oxidant by anodic oxidation of iodide anions during pulse electrolysis. In addition, the electrolyte can be successfully recycled five times while maintaining a 62-65 % yield of DFF. This novel method provides a sustainable pathway for waste-free production of DFF without the use of metal catalysts and expensive oxidants. An advantage of electrooxidation is utilized in the preparation of demanding chemical.