Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41125762›Full record

ReviewNature reviews. Chemistry2025

Production of bio-based lactones as monomers for a circular polymer economy.

Daniyal Kiani, Ross Eaglesfield, James H May, Allison Z Werner, Eugene Y-X Chen, Yuriy Román-Leshkov, Yomaira J Pagán-Torres, Gregg T Beckham

Abstract readReview
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Nature reviews. Chemistry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Bio-Based Covalent Adaptable Oligorotaxane Networks.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2026
    Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Daniyal KianiRenewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9748-3007
Ross EaglesfieldRenewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8490-1476
James H MayRenewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6451-9106
Allison Z WernerRenewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7147-2863
Eugene Y-X ChenDepartment of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7512-3484
Yuriy Román-LeshkovDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0025-4233
Yomaira J Pagán-TorresDepartment of Chemical Engineering, University of Puerto Rico - Mayagüez, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8655-7058
Gregg T BeckhamRenewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA. gregg.beckham@nrel.gov.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3480-212X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

To create a circular plastics economy, new polymers are being developed that can be chemically recycled. Circular polyesters are of particular interest and to this end, lactones are ideal monomers. This Review examines catalytic routes to convert diols, hydroxy acids, and dicarboxylic acids to lactones, focusing on the development of scalable, atom-economic, and energy-efficient conversions of bio-derived feedstocks. Free energy analysis is used to inform process choices, such as reactor type, reaction phase, and use of solvent. Catalyst design principles are summarized for both direct (bio-substrate to lactone) and indirect (bio-substrate to intermediate to lactone) routes. Finally, we summarize literature that shows that many lactone precursors are readily accessible from various metabolic and chemo-catalytic pathways. Transitioning to bio-based monomers offers an opportunity to reduce reliance on fossil carbon resources, but requires advanced catalytic processes informed by mechanistic insights.

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.