Chapter 8: Industrial Chemicals Via Decarboxylation of Natural Carboxylic Acids^†

Alternatives to petroleum-derived products, from biobased starting materials, have been a goal in the area of green materials, for private, university, and government researchers for many years. Although progress toward the goal of a major biobased economy is evident in several commercialized areas, such as biobased fuels, high profile business failures are unfortunately still commonplace in the private sector. This chapter highlights a newly developed decarboxylation technology that can be leveraged to convert fatty acids or carbohydrates into high-value renewable products for the future. It gives the promise of at least some petroleum replacement, as well as an alternative to some environmentally detrimental processes.