Catalytic routes to value-added amines via lignin-first biorefining

From drop-in chemicals to N-heterocycles and pharmaceutically relevant compounds, in his thesis, Antonio Castillo-Garcia discloses a versatile series of catalytic pathways towards the efficient conversion of renewable lignin-derived aromatic building blocks into value-added nitrogen-containing chemicals, contemplating three fundamental aspects: 1) The use of renewable aromatic building blocks which can be obtained with high selectivity through the judicious selection of reaction conditions and catalyst during lignin extraction and deconstruction following lignin-first approaches,  2) Intrinsic functionalities of these lignin-derived monomers are transformed into aliphatic and aromatic amines by following catalytic amination strategies, ideally replacing harsh reaction conditions or toxic chemicals by using environmentally benign methods and green reagents and, ultimately, maximizing atom economy, and 3) Modular cyclization strategies allow the discovery of N-heterocyclic structures with potential pharmaceutical relevance, providing a more sustainable synthesis of these prominent building blocks, conventionally afforded through multistep reactions from fossil derived aromatics.

Dissertation: https://hdl.handle.net/11370/7eba95c1-68dd-4b1b-a8b1-aefa848585a3