Terpenes and Terpenoids: How Can we Use them?

Abstract

The employed feedstocks in chemical processes received substantial attention over the past decades, mainly due to the popularity of Werpy’s list of top‐value added chemicals from biomass reported in 2004. The conventional fossil‐based feedstocks are both depleting and can be damaging to the environment. This led to a surge to replace petroleum‐based chemicals to more renewable, bio‐based platform chemicals. Terpenes and terpenoids are a group of bio‐based compounds that are well known. However, there comprehensive overviews of the chemistry that these compounds have been used for are scarce. Herein, we provide a full comprehensive overview of the reported chemistry with terpenes while specifically highlighting their reactivity. Fifteen of the most common and useful monoterpenes and terpenoids are discussed, followed by a list of the remaining known compounds belonging to this group. The fifteen compounds have been employed in a vast number of chemical transformations with different applications including: polymerizations, total syntheses, chiral reagents/auxiliaries, pharmaceuticals, and chemical conversion to other useful bio‐based chemicals. We believe that the presented chemistry in this work will provide chemists with a useful tool that should facilitate and stimulate the search for more sustainable, renewable and environmentally friendly starting points for novel synthesis routes.