High-Pressure Catalytic Hydrogenation of Renewable Succinic Acid to 1,4-Butanediol for the Synthesis of Fully Bio-Based Poly(butylene succinate)

The present study puts the circular Bioeconomy Concept into action by synthesizing biodegradable poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) by the polycondensation reaction of renewable succinic acid (SA) and 1,4-butanediol (BDO). To achieve this, SA was first obtained from furfural derived from biomass, which was gas-phase oxidized to produce maleic acid that was thereafter hydrogenated with a formic acid (FA)-containing water solution. After that, the resultant SA was subjected to catalytic hydrogenation at high pressure to yield BDO. Thus, the polymerization of both renewable monomers was successfully performed in two steps, namely esterification and transesterification, leading to PBS with a similar molecular weight and physical performance to current petrochemical grades commercially available. Finally, the fully bio-based PBS was thermo-compressed into films and originally applied as thermo-sealed bags to package beef meat, successfully achieving food preservation for up to 8 days under refrigeration conditions. Therefore, the resultant biopolyester represents a highly sustainable technical solution in the development of biodegradable food packaging materials, enabling the sourcing of its monomers completely from biomass.