{"title":"Pyridine dicarboxylic acid derived polyesters: Prospects for developing safe, circular and sustainable materials","authors":"Shanmugam Thiyagarajan","doi":"10.1016/j.cogsc.2025.101014","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cogsc.2025.101014","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The use of aromatic chemicals as key ingredients in (bulk) applications such as coatings, paints, and packaging materials is inevitable. The high dependency on the aromatics is due to their rigid characteristics that offer enhanced properties resulting in superior application performance. The development of biobased aromatic chemicals (drop-in's) or renewable rigid alternatives is necessary for the transition towards sustainable products and to alleviate society's reliance on fossil feedstock primarily being used to produce such aromatic chemicals. This mini-review highlights the potential of renewable rigid pyridine dicarboxylic acid building blocks in producing polyesters with intriguing properties for various applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54228,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry","volume":"53 ","pages":"Article 101014"},"PeriodicalIF":9.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143839779","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Green chemistry transformation: Resolving apparent incompatibilities in ecohumanism and ecomodernism in an innovation systems dynamics perspective","authors":"Andreas Pyka, Lennart Fischer, Madeleine Buckisch","doi":"10.1016/j.cogsc.2025.101015","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cogsc.2025.101015","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>At the beginning of the 21st century a new dedication towards sustainability is obligatory and asks for a fundamental reorganization or complete replacement of established innovation systems. Such a process is steered by technology philosophy. The article explores and resolves the seeming differences between ecohumanism and ecomodernism by applying a dynamic perspective of emerging innovation systems. In the very early phases, where the general dedication, search heuristics and relevant knowledge space is determined, ecohumanism should shape the sustainability dedication by establishing general rules respecting the fundamental importance for subsequent innovation. Ecomodernism then helps in both the following explorative phases to effectively guide progress, as well as in the more and more exploitative phases to efficiently guide progress within these general rules. This dynamic combination of ecohumanistic and ecomodernistic thinking demonstrates how a mandatory sustainability focus can be implemented without falling back to a naive techno-optimistic view. The article highlights the relevance of our approach for green chemistry. The principles of green chemistry provide ecohumanist guideposts for technologies currently in the stage of ecomodernist intensification.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54228,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry","volume":"53 ","pages":"Article 101015"},"PeriodicalIF":9.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143680583","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Generative artificial intelligence for enzyme design: Recent advances in models and applications","authors":"Shuixiu Wen , Wen Zheng , Uwe T. Bornscheuer , Shuke Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.cogsc.2025.101010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cogsc.2025.101010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Enzyme catalysis is a key enabling technology for green and sustainable production of chemicals. Developing suitable enzymes is at the heart of this technology, which is currently changing by Artificial Intelligence (AI) such as machine learning. AI-based methods were used for enzyme discovery and design. We review the recent advances in generative AI models for enzyme design, with a particular focus on those that have been validated by experiments. Furthermore, we discuss the applications of the enzymes designed by generative AI, including artificial luciferases, non-heme iron (II)-dependent oxygenases, and P450 enzymes. We provide our opinions on several current issues encountered in computational enzyme design. With the fast development of new generative models in enzymes and the implementation of these models by the research community, we believe that the precise design of efficient enzymes with new catalytic functions and/or potential industrial applications will be a mature method in the near future.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54228,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry","volume":"52 ","pages":"Article 101010"},"PeriodicalIF":9.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143527553","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Recent developments in sustainable high Tg (co)polyesters from 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid, isosorbide, and oxalic acid. Performance and social perspectives","authors":"Gert-Jan M. Gruter","doi":"10.1016/j.cogsc.2025.101013","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cogsc.2025.101013","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Renewable polyesters with a good balance between impact strength and elastic modulus are rare, especially when combined with a high glass transition temperature (T<sub>g</sub>). Meeting such performance would enable the substitution of polymers like acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polycarbonate with chemically recyclable polyesters from bio-based, CO<sub>2</sub>-based, or recycled sources. Recently, we showed that the low reactivity of isosorbide can be overcome. The synthesized copolyesters are very competitive regarding the goals of T<sub>g</sub>, modulus, and impact strength. CO<sub>2</sub>-based oxalate esters and isosorbide are an intriguing monomer combination. These polyesters offer a combination of outstanding mechanical-, thermal-, and barrier properties in combination with unique home compostability and marine degradability. In this minireview, we will highlight some recent polymer technology developments on high T<sub>g</sub> (co)polyesters and we look at the recent behavior of consumers on their willingness to pay for sustainability, which can create a strong market pull that can help to accelerate the plastic materials transition.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54228,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry","volume":"53 ","pages":"Article 101013"},"PeriodicalIF":9.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143680584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"On the linkages between preferential trade agreements and environmental policy","authors":"Matthew Hamang, Halis Murat Yildiz","doi":"10.1016/j.cogsc.2025.101012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cogsc.2025.101012","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The existence of transboundary environmental externalities requires international cooperation over environmental policies. Therefore, the interaction between trade and the environment has become vital for sound economic policy making. Recently, the number of preferential trade agreements has risen exponentially, and they increasingly include disciplines aimed at achieving non-trade objectives. These include deep reforms in regulatory rules and harmonization with partner countries on issues such as environmental policies and regulations. This paper focuses on recent literature examining the linkage between deep and shallow trade agreements and environmental policies. We also discuss the recent carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) introduced by the European Union (EU) as an example of how a deep trade agreement (such as the EU) offers a practical channel through which environmental policies can be implemented, harmonized, and enforced internationally.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54228,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry","volume":"53 ","pages":"Article 101012"},"PeriodicalIF":9.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143643788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mechanistic investigation of repurposed photoenzymes with new-to-nature reactivity","authors":"Zhengyi Zhang , Maolin Li , Huimin Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.cogsc.2025.101009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cogsc.2025.101009","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biocatalysis is widely renowned for its remarkable efficiency, selectivity, and known for operating under mild conditions. While most enzymatic reactions progress without light irradiation, recent studies have identified light as a crucial factor in the activation of certain naturally occurring enzymes. These findings have spurred the rapid advancement of photoenzymatic catalysis in the past few years, where enzymes are not typically known for light activation perform excited-state chemistry with or without the presence of external photocatalysts to facilitate new-to-nature transformations that are challenging for traditional chemical synthesis. In this review, we summarize the experimental and computational methods used to investigate the catalytic mechanisms of repurposed photoenzymes with new-to-nature reactivity and discuss how these insights can inform the design of new photoenzymatic catalytic systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54228,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry","volume":"52 ","pages":"Article 101009"},"PeriodicalIF":9.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143510953","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Strategies for obtaining value-added aromatic amines via lignin-first biorefinery approaches","authors":"Antonio A. Castillo-Garcia , Katalin Barta","doi":"10.1016/j.cogsc.2025.101011","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cogsc.2025.101011","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Is it possible to find an appropriate synergy between mild lignin depolymerization and atom-economic functionalization methods to achieve maximum synthetic efficiency for valuable bio-based amines and minimize the environmental burden associated with fossil-based routes? This opinion describes the most recent advances in the development of catalytic amination methodologies of lignin-derivable phenols typically afforded by <em>lignin-first</em> approaches, as well as emerging one-pot strategies for lignin deconstruction and subsequent production of high-value amines and derivatives. Moreover, promising synthetic pathways furnishing lignin-based N-heterocycles and their potential pharmaceutical application are further discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54228,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry","volume":"53 ","pages":"Article 101011"},"PeriodicalIF":9.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143680585","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Information systems-driven multi-disciplinary approaches to sustainability and circular economy","authors":"Pankaj Sharma , Ankita Srivastava , Chenzhang Bao","doi":"10.1016/j.cogsc.2025.101007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cogsc.2025.101007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This short review presents current understanding of information systems supporting sustainability and circular economy. Key themes include technological enablers of sustainability, consumer behavior, organizational perspectives, regulatory frameworks, and industrial heterogeneity. Future research directions are also outlined.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54228,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry","volume":"52 ","pages":"Article 101007"},"PeriodicalIF":9.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143452959","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Experimental approaches to sustainable food consumption behavior","authors":"Özge Dinç-Cavlak","doi":"10.1016/j.cogsc.2025.101008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cogsc.2025.101008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The global food system is reported as a significant contributor to health-related problems and environmental degradation; therefore, international organizations and public authorities increasingly support more sustainable food systems as part of their commitment to the sustainable development goals. Accordingly, an increase in individuals’ interest and propensity toward sustainable food consumption is being observed. Several studies have been conducted investigating the motives of sustainable food consumption behavior, including well-known models with theoretical backgrounds, goal-directed perspectives, and nudge interventions. Among these, nudge interventions are mainly effective in shifting individuals toward consuming more sustainable foods. In this context, this study reviews the recent literature by exploring nudge interventions in the experimental setting for sustainable food consumption. In addition, it summarizes the implications of these studies to make suggestions to policymakers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54228,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry","volume":"53 ","pages":"Article 101008"},"PeriodicalIF":9.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143591772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Plasma-activated co-conversion of N2 and C1 gases towards value-added products","authors":"Julia Simon, Lea R. Winter","doi":"10.1016/j.cogsc.2024.100985","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cogsc.2024.100985","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Plasma activation and co-conversion of N<sub>2</sub> and C<sub>1</sub> gases pose a promising opportunity to address the urgent need to decarbonize the production of fertilizers and chemical products. This review summarizes recent studies demonstrating advances in plasma-assisted co-conversion of N<sub>2</sub> and C<sub>1</sub> gases (i.e., CO<sub>2</sub>, CO, and CH<sub>4</sub>) to value-added products including nitrogenous fertilizers, C–N bond-containing chemicals, and in situ resource utilization products such as O<sub>2</sub>. Additionally, we identify key opportunities for continued research to discover and develop these technologies for real-world applications based on plasma tuning, plasma-catalyst synergy, and techno-economic considerations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54228,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry","volume":"51 ","pages":"Article 100985"},"PeriodicalIF":9.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143168137","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}