有機化学を駆使した効率的なプラスチックや生体分子の変換反応

抄録

Plastics are indispensable material that supports our daily life. The amounts of their production and waste are increasing in every year, and their recycling is recognized as a key issue for sustainable development of the world. Plastics are carbon resources and should be recycled in a proper manner. Chemical recycling is a concept in which plastics are treated chemically to give monomer or related compounds that would serve further use. Although chemical recycling of plastics is an ideal way, it is still difficult to carry it out. In this account, we focus on the depolymerization reaction of several plastics, and show how basic knowledge and recent development of synthetic organic chemistry provide important idea and solution on this matter. Use of supercritical alcohols and ionic liquids offered new and valuable methods. We applied the methodology developed here to biomass conversion, and we show the results about this application.