The customized photo-flow reactor setup. Credit: Science (2026). DOI: 10.1126/science.aec6532.

A research project conducted by the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung shows how biomass can be used as a raw material for chemical products instead of petroleum. The scientists have published their findings in the journal Science.

The chemical industry is facing major challenges: for reasons of CO2 neutrality, circular economy, and geopolitical instability, there is a desire to move away from petroleum and other fossil materials as raw materials for the production of high-quality chemicals. But how will molecular building blocks for essential medicines, for example, be obtained in the future?

New approach to using biomass

A team from the working group of Prof. Benjamin List, Director at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, is now demonstrating a new way to obtain such chemicals.

"Our motto is: biomass as a chemical raw material instead of petroleum," explains Nils Frank, a doctoral student in Benjamin List’s team. But unlike petroleum, the chemical potential of biomass is far from being exhausted. In their project, Nils Frank and the team from the List laboratory focused on so-called furans, a product of biomass.

"For decades, chemists have been focusing on petroleum, which is why the possibilities offered by furans have hardly been investigated. We took a closer look at this," says Nils Frank.

Breakthrough in furan chemistry

Established processes oxidize or reduce furans to alcohols or carboxylic acids—a simple, redox-neutral ring opening to, for example, the dialdehyde succinaldehyde was not known. This redox-neutral reaction was achieved thanks to a process known as photohydrolysis.

"Light is important because the reaction is an ‘uphill’ reaction," explains Nils Frank. This means that energy must be supplied for the reaction to take place. And, as in natural photosynthesis, this energy comes from light.

"Carbon dioxide and light are the building blocks of a future chemical industry, and Nils’ discovery is just the beginning of our work in this direction," says Ben List.

Potential for pharmaceutical production

The intermediates through which the reaction proceeds are also exciting. Co-author Dr. Markus Leutzsch accompanied the studies spectroscopically, "Interestingly, we found that the reaction proceeds via a heterocycle that has not yet been described scientifically."

The team was thus able to show that valuable pharmaceuticals such as prostaglandins or antibiotics can be produced directly from furans without detours via oxidation and reduction.

Nils Frank cannot yet say whether pharmaceuticals will one day be produced in this way. "However, my colleague Dr. Moreshwar Chaudhari was able to show that the reaction is arbitrarily scalable by developing an illuminated flow reactor, a form of application that is used particularly in industry."

Publication details

Nils Frank et al, The photohydrolysis of furans, Science (2026). DOI: 10.1126/science.aec6532. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aec6532

Citation: Biomass-derived furans offer sustainable alternative to petroleum in chemical production (2026, January 16) retrieved 16 January 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-01-biomass-derived-furans-sustainable-alternative.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.