Future chemical technology development guide

Petrochemical refineries produce fewer than a dozen modules, especially short-chain olefins and aromatics, which together with synthetic gases become the stems of the oil tree, which in turn derive the trunk, branches and leaves of the oil tree, ultimately forming more than 100,000 chemicals that make up the molecular diversity.

Much of the value of petrochemistry comes from synthesis methods that introduce functional groups into molecules. Therefore, the availability of raw materials and the function of the required products have a direct feedback effect on the development of chemical production routes and processes.

The improvement of synthetic methods will undoubtedly remain a major area of research with the most direct impact on the environment. Due to the depletion of resources, global climate change and the production of toxic by-products, oil is not a sustainable option. Ultimately, new value chain designs based on non-fossil carbon sources and renewable resources will pave the way for a closed cycle. This change in form marks the beginning of the next industrial evolution in chemistry.

The use of renewable carbon resources becomes competitive, which requires major scientific breakthroughs and innovations, and advanced hydrogen technology and electrochemical processes should be actively studied to develop and utilize energy.

Among carbon sources, lignocellulosic biomass and carbon dioxide are among the most abundant raw materials on Earth, and their quantities are sufficient to "de-petroleum" the chemical value chain. Recycled plastic materials are another potentially rich source of carbon within the circular economy framework.

In contrast to fossil resources consisting solely of hydrocarbon, these feedstocks are composed of highly oxidized and "over-functionalized" molecules. Therefore, their transformation requires new integrated ideas and methods to achieve.

One option for addressing the challenge of complexity is to eliminate it.

For example, by combining synthetic gas intermediates with Fischer-Tropsch synthesis technology, oil substitutes are produced.

Thus, almost any non-fossil feedstock can add additional "roots" to the oil tree; The "green carbon" is then passed through all the existing "branches" and "leaves". This approach leverages established knowledge and infrastructure to reorganize valuable functions.

Another strategy is to take advantage of the inherent complexity of renewable raw materials to achieve a shortcut to target functional group molecules.

For example, the microbial fermentation of waste glycerol or sugar at room temperature to produce important chemical products (such as 1, 3-propylene glycol or succinic acid) in water is increasingly competing with the multi-step petrochemical route.

A similar approach applies to carbon dioxide, which can be integrated into the value chain through existing chemical products.

Bespoke chemicals and biocatalites that can adapt to changes in feedstock quality and fluctuations in energy supply, as well as the development of highly integrated and energy-efficient purification processes, will be important scientific drivers behind this development.

Perhaps even better, renewable raw materials offer entirely new chemical modules that can drive functional improvements without historically negative impacts on human health and the environment.

For example, recently, monosaccharide derived synthesis of furan dicarboxylic acid (FDCA) has aroused interest as a potential base material for novel polyester products, such as carbonated liquid containers; Polymer chains that incorporate carbon dioxide directly into consumer products have been industrialised. An increasing number of new synthetic methods based on the selective coupling of carbon dioxide and hydrogen with other substrates illustrate their great potential for building functional groups in the later stages of product synthesis.

In this field, it is obvious that the systematic integration of molecular and engineering science with product properties will enable the unification of energy and matter in the chemical-energy relationship and create new opportunities for the coupling of chemistry with agriculture, steel, cement and other industries.

Deconstructing highly complex target molecules through "counter-synthetic analysis" to design their synthesis from existing feedstocks and synthesis methods is a central pillar of synthetic organic chemistry today.

The same conceptual idea can be translated into a new design framework for synthesizing target products from renewable raw materials.