New Sustainable Chemicals and Materials Derived from CO2 and Bio-based Resources: A New Catalytic Challenge

The utilization of emitted CO 2 as a carbon source for the manufacturing of chemicals, and materials is a highly active field of research that aims at recycling (waste) carbon back into the value chain. The topic has recently gained a renewed interest due to CO2 increasing atmospheric concentration and consequent climatic impact. In fact, CO 2 is an abundant, nontoxic and readily available renewable C1 building block, that furthermore do not compete with food production. One of the most attractive strategies for CO2 utilization involves the total incorporation of the CO 2 moiety into a high energetic organic substrate, without affecting the oxidation state of the carbon centre. This process although addressing accessible thermodynamic barriers, requires a high-energy substrate, which is normally obtained from fossil resources. Recently many research groups have focused on the combination of CO 2 with bio-based substrates, namely derived from waste biomass. The strategy is highly attractive specially in the context of the production of fully sustainable new chemicals and materials for the chemical industry. However, most bio-based substrates are much less reactive turning catalysis into a critical factor specially regarding the techno-economic viability of the process. This chapter will present an overview of the most promising catalytic systems developed, analyse the new trends and focus on the future challenges.