Cellulose recycling as a source of raw chirality

VALERIA CORNE; MARÍA C. BOTTA; ENRIQUE D. V. GIORDANO; GERMÁN F. GIRI; DAVID F. LLOMPART; HERNÁN D. BIAVA; ARIEL M. SAROTTI; MARÍA I. MANGIONE; ERNESTO G. MATA; ALEJANDRA G. SUÁREZ; ROLANDO A. SPANEVELLO

PURE AND APPLIED CHEMISTRY

INT UNION PURE APPLIED CHEMISTRY

Año: 2013 vol. 85 p. 1683 - 1692

0033-4545

Modern organic chemistry requires easily obtainable chiral building blocks thatshow high chemical versatility for their application in the synthesis of enantiopure compounds.Biomass has been demonstrated to be a widely available raw material that representsthe only abundant source of renewable organic carbon. Through the pyrolitic conversion ofcellulose or cellulose-containing materials it is possible to produce levoglucosenone, a highlyfunctionalized chiral structure. This compound has been innovatively used as a template forthe synthesis of key intermediates of biologically active products and for the preparation ofchiral auxiliaries, catalysts, and organocatalysts for their application in asymmetric synthesis.