Biodegradible plastic to substritute Bisphenol http://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/1...sugar-and-carbon-dioxide.html?WT.mc_id=ca0066 Polycarbonates from sugars offer a more sustainable alternative to traditional polycarbonate from BPA, however the process uses a highly toxic chemical called phosgene. Now scientists at Bath have developed a much safer, even more sustainable alternative which adds carbon dioxide to the sugar at low pressures and at room temperature. The resulting plastic has similar physical properties to those derived from petrochemicals, being strong, transparent and scratch-resistant. The crucial difference is that they can be degraded back into carbon dioxide and sugar using the enzymes found in soil bacteria.
Interesting usage of ribose http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2017/PY/C7PY00236J#!divAbstract
