Acrolein and acrylic acid from biomass

In this article a review of the best results obtained in the production of acrolein and acrylic acid from biomass are presented. The platform molecules derived from biomass that are used in these catalytic processes are glycerol, lactic acid, fumaric acid, and 1-3-hydroxypropionic acid. The most promising approaches for the production of acrylic acid from biomass platform molecules are those from 3-hydroxypropionic acid, requiring minimum feed purification, and from glycerol using a two stage catalytic process with interstage purification. None of the bio-based processes are commercially competitive with petroleum (propylene) based processes because of the high energy costs of the former processes therefore research to optimize the processes is necessary.