Biomass is a class of abundant renewable resource. Its efficient use in the field of biobased materials is one of the important ways for implementation of sustainable development strategies. 2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) as a potential alternative of terephthalic acid (PTA) to make alipharomatic polyesters, can be obtained in mass amount from cellulose via bio- or chemical process. For this reason, FDCA-based polyesters have gained high interest recently. This review systematically summarizes recent progress in the making of FDCA-based polyesters (including poly(ethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PEF), poly(propylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PPF), poly(butylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PBF), poly(hexylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PHF), and their copolyesters), especially highlighting the progress and fundamental aspects for their synthesis and properties. Significant advantages (and also disadvantages) of the FDCA-based polyesters are clearly indicated relative to price, performance, and sustainable development, in reference to traditional petroleum-based polyesters in industrial application. The goal of this review is to provide useful information regarding the synthesis and properties of FDCA-based polyesters.

Catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) into 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)furan (BHMF) is an important method for the catalytic upgrading of biomass-derived platform compounds to fuels and chemicals, and the development of effective and economical catalysts for this purpose is of great significance. In this work, we designed and prepared a new carbon-nanosheets (CNS)-supported Zr/Ca bimetallic catalyst (ZrCa@CNS) with low cost by a "gel-blowing" strategy. Comprehensive studies revealed that ZrCa(2)@CNS-600 exhibited good catalytic activity on the CTH of HMF into BHMF via Meerwein−Ponndorf−Verley (MPV) reduction, and an 84.2% BHMF yield with a 91.2% HMF conversion was obtained in isopropyl alcohol at 190 °C in 10 h. ZrCa(2)@CNS-600 exhibited good heterogeneity, reusability, and stability, and it is readily recovered from the reaction mixture by filtration and consecutively recycled/reused for six times without an obvious loss in its catalytic activity.

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) has received much attention as a bridgehead to connect biomass with furan ring chemicals. Its hydrogenation product, 2,5-dihydroxymethylfuran (DHMF), is one of the most important biomass-derived platform chemicals. However, the preparation of high-efficiency catalysts with low cost for the selective hydrogenation of HMF into DHMF is always needed. In this article, we prepared a zirconium-doped activated carbon by chemical activation. Systematic characterizations revealed that the high activity of zirconiumdoped activated carbon for catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) of HMF into DHMF was provided by the cooperative effect between Lewis acid and Lewis base sites due to its extremely high specific surface area. The conversion of HMF and the yield of DHMF are 97.5 and 96.3% at 130 °C for 2 h, respectively. The catalyst still maintained high catalytic activity after simple recalcination treatment at 550 °C for 2 h in nitrogen atmosphere. Based on the experimental results, a kinetic model describing the catalytic conversion of HMF into DHMF has been established, which has a good correlation (R 2 > 0.93) between the measured and predicted data. The developed kinetics can provide an effective tool to monitor the process and tailor the process conditions to obtain the desired product.