A groundbreaking method has been developed by scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison to produce a popular pain reliever and other valuable products using plants instead of petroleum, offering a cost-effective and eco-friendly solution.
Steven Karlen, a staff scientist at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, spearheaded the research recently published in the journal ChemSusChem, emphasizing the scalability and feasibility of the process.
Paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen, a widely used pharmaceutical with a global market value of approximately $130 million annually, has traditionally been derived from coal tar or petroleum. However, in 2019, Karlen and UW–Madison biochemistry professor John Ralph demonstrated the potential to produce it from a compound found in poplar trees through a well-established chemical reaction.
The team led by Karlen has further refined the method for producing paracetamol and other valuable products such as drugs, pigments, textiles, and biodegradable plastics, collectively valued at over $1.5 billion. This diverse product portfolio could sustain numerous small biorefineries that can feed into larger hubs without oversaturating the market.
2024-04-08 16:00:03
Original from phys.org