In biorefinery processes often the downstream processing is the technological bottleneck for an overall high efficiency. On the basis of recent developments, the selective liquid phase adsorption applying highly hydrophobic porous materials opened up new opportunities for process development. In this contribution, the efficiency of selective liquid phase adsorption is demonstrated for the separation and purification of itaconic acid from aqueous solutions for the first time. A wide range of different adsorbents was screened, revealing the surface polarity as well as textural properties as critical parameters for their performance. Adsorption from mixed solutions of itaconic acid and glucose exhibited extraordinary high selectivities for adsorbents with highly hydrophobic surfaces, especially certain activated carbons and hyper-cross-linked polymers. Evaluation of the pH dependence showed that the respective molecular species of itaconic acid/itaconate has a major impact on the adsorption performance. Additionally, experiments on a continuously operated fixedbed adsorber were carried out, and the desorption behavior was evaluated. Overall, the technical feasibility of the selective adsorptive removal of itaconic acid from aqueous solutions with hydrophobic adsorbents is demonstrated as a model system for an alternative technology to conventional separation strategies in biorefinery concepts.

Formic acid is a promising hydrogen storage medium and can be produced by catalytic hydrogenation of CO . Molecular ruthenium complexes immobilized on phosphine polymers have been found to exhibit excellent productivity and selectivity in the catalytic hydrogenation of CO under mild conditions. The polymeric analog of 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane exhibited the highest activity and turnover numbers up to 13 170 were obtained in a single run. This catalyst was already active at 40 °C and with a catalyst loading of only 0.0006 mol %. Recycling experiments revealed a loss of activity after the first run, followed by a gradual decrease during the subsequent runs. This is attributed to a change in the catalytically active complex during the hydrogenation reaction. High selectivity towards formate and low leaching were maintained in the absence of CO formation. Based on the catalyst characterization, a mechanism for the CO hydrogenation is proposed.

Methyl formate was produced in one pot through the hydrogenation of CO2 to formic acid/formate followed by an esterification step. The route offers the possibility to integrate renewable energy into the fossil‐based chemical value chain. In this work, a phosphine‐polymer‐anchored Ru complex was shown to be an efficient solid catalyst for the direct hydrogenation of CO2 to methyl formate. The 1,2‐bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane‐like polymer presented the highest activity with a turnover number (TON) of up to 3401 at 160 °C. The reaction parameters were systemically investigated to optimize the reaction towards the formation of methyl formate. This catalyst could be reused seven times without a significant decrease in activity. Evolution of the catalytic Ru center during the reaction was revealed, and a possible reaction mechanism was proposed.

We present the synthesis and characterization of fluorinated polymers based on P, B, Si, Sn and Ge as heteroatoms via Grignard activation.

The Cover Feature shows the immobilized Ru complex on phosphine polymers as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the catalytic reduction of CO2 to methyl formate in the presence of methanol. This research provides a potential entry to achieve a renewable chemical value chain. More information can be found in the Full Paper by R. Sun et al. on page 3278 in Issue 14, 2019 (DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201900808).