Hemicellulose is a forest industry side stream that is usually burned for energy. Instead, it could be modified into more valuable platform chemicals. This project investigates the possibility of using it to replace fossil fuel-based feedstocks that are currently used to make plastic polymers.
 
The purpose of this project is to create new knowledge about the catalytic modification of carbohydrates, especially the modification of hemicellulose, into polymer raw materials. Hemicellulose sugars can be split into smaller molecules and then modified further to produce platform chemicals. The plan is to combine the latest experimental methods of chemical research with experimental design, automation and machine learning.