Bio-based compounds with unique chemical functionality can be obtained through selective transformations of plant and other non-fossil, biogenic feedstocks for the development of new polymers to displace those produced from fossil carbon feedstocks. Although substantial efforts have been invested to produce bio-based polymers that are chemically identical to and directly replace those from petroleum, a long-pursued goal is to synthesize new, sustainable, bio-based polymers that either functionally replace or exhibit performance advantages relative to incumbent polymers. Owing to anthropogenic climate change and the environmental consequences of global plastics pollution, the need to realize a bio-based materials economy at scale is critical. To that end, in this Review we describe the concept of performance-advantaged, bio-based polymers (PBPs), highlighting examples wherein superior performance is facilitated by the inherent chemical functionality of bio-based feedstocks. We focus on PBPs with C–O and C–N inter-unit chemical bonds, as these are often readily accessible from bio-based feedstocks, which are heteroatom-rich relative to petroleum-derived feedstocks. Finally, we outline guiding principles and challenges to aid progress in the development of PBPs.

具有独特化学功能的生物基化合物可以通过植物和其他非化石生物原料的选择性转化来获得，用于开发新聚合物以取代由化石碳原料生产的聚合物。尽管已经投入了大量努力来生产与石油化学相同并直接取代石油的生物基聚合物，但长期追求的目标是合成新的、可持续的、生物基聚合物，这些聚合物在功能上取代或表现出相对于石油的性能优势。现有聚合物。由于人为气候变化和全球塑料污染对环境的影响，实现生物基材料经济规模化的必要性至关重要。为此，在本综述中，我们描述了具有性能优势的生物基聚合物 (PBP) 的概念，突出例子，其中生物基原料的固有化学功能促进了卓越的性能。我们专注于具有 C-O 和 C-N 单元间化学键的 PBP，因为它们通常很容易从生物基原料中获得，而生物基原料相对于石油衍生原料而言富含杂原子。最后，我们概述了指导原则和挑战，以帮助 PBP 的发展取得进展。