Green non-isocyanate polyurethanes

This project is a collaboration between the three laboratories of Kemitek, Laval University and the Soprema company. The objective is the development of green polyurethanes in which the carbon is of plant origin, unlike the polyurethanes produced today on a large scale from carbon of fossil origin. This substitution would be extremely beneficial for the atmospheric carbon balance. In addition, the polyurethanes currently produced use diisocyanates in their preparation, considered to be extremely toxic (a leak of a material of this family, methyl isocyanate, was responsible for the Bhopal disaster which killed over 20,000 people in 1984). The new polyurethanes will not only be beneficial in combating greenhouse effects but they will also make it possible to avoid the use and therefore the large-scale production of diisocyanates. In addition, these new syntheses constitute a means of upgrading the CO2 generated by the capture processes, for the production of new cyclic carbonates used as reaction intermediates. The general objective of this project is the development of a technology for the conversion of different molecules of plant origin using CO2 for the production of green polyurethanes, free of diisocyanates. The molecules considered are three terpenes, a derivative of glucose (isorbide) and a molecule extracted from lignin, eugenol.