Organocatalytic Upgrading of Biomass Derived Building Blocks

The depletion of finite primary fossil fuels we are facing makes necessary a deep metamorphosis in fundamental parts of the chemical industry. A progressive transition from petro-based starting materials toward renewable biomass-derived sources will have to take place in the synthesis of added-value chemicals, important for our everyday life, such as pharmaceuticals, polymers, agrochemicals etc. Moreover, greener processes, carried out under friendlier reaction conditions, must be designed to address current concerns about the climate change and the resulting pressing need to reduce the environmental footprint of chemical processes. To this end, organocatalysis could offer a valuable opportunity for upgrading biomass-derived platform molecules in line with the principles of Green Chemistry. This review presents some of recent and remarkable advancements in this emerging area. Organocatalysis has proven to be an efficient tool to transform low value bio-based renewable platform building blocks into new high value bio-based chemicals, with potential applications as synthetic intermediates, innovative materials and pharmaceutically active compounds.