Feasible synthesis of bifurfural from renewable furfural derived 5-bromofurfural for polymerization

Deriving versatile monomers from bulky biomass for polymer production can greatly replace fossil resources as the carbon source of chemical industry. The present studies introduce the feasible synthesis of bifurfural, a bifunctionalized bifuran monomer, from the furfural platform. The reaction was carried out through reductive coupling of 5-bromofurfural with CO as the reductant source with commercial Pd/C as the catalyst under gentle conditions, and the catalyst is recyclable and reusable. So prepared bifurfural was preliminarily investigated as a monomer for poly(Schiff base) material synthesis, and it was found that the poly(Schiff base) derived from nonlinear bifurfural monomer polymerizing with linear p -phenylenediamine demonstrated larger surface area than that from petrochemical 4,4′-biphenyldicarboxaldehyde with excellent thermal stability, thus offering a new opportunity in bifurfural based furfural utilization in polymer industry.