Biosourced Janus molecules for functional additives

The estimated global production of biomass is about 1011 ton/year and only 3% is cultivated, harvested, and used, for food and non food applications. The agricultural dry biomass waste is about 20 Gton. Hence, it really makes sense to start from biosources and in particular from the 2nd generation ones, which do not have impact on the food chain, to prepare new and more sustainable materials. The research here reported moved from biousourced C3 and C6 building blocks: glycerol and aldaric acids. By applying the basic principles of green chemistry, they were transformed in functional chemicals, suitable for the preparation of a large variety of materials. Fil rouge of these chemicals is the ability to combine the typical features and reactivity of the biosourced molecule with those arising from the chemical modifications. In this respect, they are Janus molecules. An example of a Janus molecule is 2-(2,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrrol-1-yl)-1,3-propanediol (serinol pyrrole, SP), obtained from 2-amino-1,3-propandiol (serinol), a glycerol derivative. SP was found to be a universal functionalization agent for sp2 carbon allotropes and inorganic oxy-hydroxides. Hybrid systems were also prepared, based on both carbon and inorganic materials. The innovative chemical structure of such a Janus molecule allowed to perform functionalization reactions which are easier and more sustainable than the traditional ones. Nanosized sp2 carbon allotropes were successfully functionalized and the adducts found pervasive applications, from nanocatalysis for low temperature organic chemistry reactions to bionanocomposites, to functional additives for piezoresistive and antibacterial coatings, to reinforcing fillers for rubber composites for tires. The chemistry developed with these biosourced Janus molecules is becoming a technology, as different applications are at the pre-industrial scale.