The following article by CARES Research Fellow Dr See Jie Yang is taken from the 11th CARES Research Report.
Rising global temperatures due to increasing greenhouse gas levels amidst the rapid depletion of the earth’s resources have sparked intense worries regarding the future of our environment. Such mounting concerns have led to efforts by scientists and researchers to spearhead research for developing and discovering environmentally friendly and sustainable global energy resources. Crop waste, a by-product of agricultural activities, is a highly apt target for energy and resource extraction research. [1,2]
For the past few years, our lab has performed extensive research on the extraction of utility chemicals from agricultural waste. Examples include the production of terephthalic acid from corn stover lignin and amino acid from biomass. In this work, environmentally friendly strategies are being developed to generate a class of UV filters commonly adopted in the cosmetics industry. This is accomplished through the adept use of chemical transformations on corn stover derived intermediates. Most of these platform chemicals were synthesised through a short two-step protocol. Commercially available, recyclable and economical catalysts were adopted in our efforts. Our success in this direction brings to fruition the formation of a recyclable resource economy co-existing in a harmonious relationship with the environment.
Referenced publications
1 Song, Song, et al. 2019. “Production of terephthalic acid from corn stover lignin.” Angewandte Chemie International Edition. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201814284.
2 Deng, Weiping, et al. 2018. “Catalytic amino acid production from biomass-derived intermediates.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1800272115.
Dr See Jie Yang undertook his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at NUS, graduating in 2015. His fourth year project was titled “Metal Organic Frameworks for CO₂ Capture” and completed under the guidance of Prof. Andy Hor Tzi Sum. Dr See undertook his PhD in Chemistry (2015 – 2018) under Assoc. Prof. Zhao Yu and Prof. Yeung Ying Yeung focusing on group 7 elements, the chalcogens, and their utility in organic synthesis and catalysis. He is genetically programmed to carry an intrinsic love for organic synthesis and chocolate.
