Straightening training, research and innovation capacities in the valorization of bio-renewable resource

The overall strategic objective (Ob) of the project Biomass4Synthons, is to place the Institutions Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon (FFUL), Portugal and Institute of Organic Chemistry with Centre of Phytochemistry Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IOCCP-BAS) Sofia, Bulgaria, and the two non-academic partners: Spartax Chemicals and Science and Technology Park (BLC3) belonging both to Widening Countries.

Within the core of a European network of laboratories FFUL and IOCCP-BAS seeks to produce cutting-edge research and training in the field of synthetic organic chemistry for the use of more modern and environmentally friendly tools to achieve the efficient transformation of bio-renewable based starting materials leading to valuable synthetic building blocks.

Over the last decade, FFUL and IOCCP-BAS have developed sustainable collaboration in various research topics.

The success of this collaboration formed the basis for a join twinning application, which will aim to consolidate it, support its sustainability and foster its growth.

Some specific ongoing examples of raw materials valorisation readily available in the two Widening Countries are furan based molecules derived from carbohydrates such as furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural; oleuropein from olive leaves; abietic and dehydroabietic acid from gum rosin (also called colophony) as industrial product extracted from Pinus pinaster and lupanine alkaloid obtained from wastewater treatment of processed lupin beans.

The proposed Consortium will enhance the scientific and technological capacity of linked institutions FFUL and IOCCP-BAS in key areas of synthetic organic chemistry such as process intensification by flow chemistry, photochemical and photocatalytic reactions, efficient metal catalysis C-H, C-C and C-heteroatom activation and domino reactions.