The transition from petroleum to biorenewable sources of carbon to meet our energy and chemical feedstock needs is difficult, in part because these sources are so different, with petroleum being under-functionalized and biomass being over-functionalized relative to commercial chemicals. However, target lists such as the US Department of Energy’s Top 10 have converged efforts to develop the technologies needed to manufacture the most important feedstocks accessible from biorenewables. Less well defined but equally important to the economic viability of an integrated biorefinery are low-volume, high-value product streams, which would help offset the capital costs of a biorefinery. In this Review, we attempt to bring together some of the advances that could fill these niche areas, with a focus on the conversion of cellulosics into chemicals using homogeneous catalysis. The products range from high-value jet fuels to monomers for high-performance polymers and materials to pharmaceutical intermediates and cover a broad range of structural complexities.

从石油到生物可再生碳源的转换以满足我们的能源和化学原料需求是困难的，部分原因是这些源是如此不同，相对于商业化学品，石油的功能不足，而生物质的功能过度。但是，诸如美国能源部的十大目标清单已经集中了努力，以开发必要的技术来制造可从生物可再生能源中获取的最重要的原料。数量少，价值高的产品流的定义不太明确，但对整合的生物精炼厂的经济可行性同等重要，这将有助于抵消生物精炼厂的资本成本。在本评论中，我们尝试汇总一些可以填补这些特殊领域的进展，重点介绍了使用均相催化将纤维素转化为化学物质的过程。产品范围从高价值的喷气燃料到高性能聚合物和材料的单体，再到医药中间体，涵盖了广泛的结构复杂性。