Biorenewable polyethylene terephthalate mimics derived from lignin and acetic acidElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Synthetic details and complete polymer characterization data. See DOI: 10.1039/c0gc00150c

Lignin-based vanillin and acetic anhydride are subjected to the Perkin reaction and then hydrogenation to afford acetyldihydroferulic acid. Polymerization of this monomer yields poly(dihydroferulic acid), which exhibits thermal properties functionally similar to those of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Lignin-based vanillin and acetic anhydride are combined to yield poly(dihydroferulic acid), which is a functional mimic of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).