Aqueous Phase of Biomass Pyrolysis Oil As a Raw Material for Polymer Synthesis

The goal of this research is to utilize the aqueous phase of bio-oil for polymer synthesis. Bio-oil is a liquid product obtained through the pyrolysis of biomass containing lignin, cellulose, and hemi-cellulose. Currently, the aqueous phase does not have much commercial value but consists of water, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, sugar and phenols... In order to polymerize the bio-oil components, the bio-oil was altered to contain as high of a ratio of olefins as possible. In the first stage, primary and secondary alcohols in the bio-oil were converted into aldehydes and ketones, respectively. Then, through Wittig reaction, aldehydes and ketones were converted into olefins. The Wittig reaction takes advantage of a triphenylphosphine ylide attaching to an aldehyde/ketone and taking away the oxygen atom while leaving behind an olefin. Therefore, the more aldehydes/ketones available in the bio-oil, the more olefins that may result from the Wittig reaction. Wittig reactions were attempted with both a stabilized and non-stabilized ylide to yield different olefins. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) were used for characterization. The results of the Wittig reaction were analyzed through chromatography to analyze the results for the desired product. Finally, the funcrionalized bio-oil olefins were polymerized by AIBN initiator at elevated temperature.