# 2-Methoxy-4-Vinylphenol as a Biobased Monomer Precursor for Thermoplastics and Thermoset Polymers
## 1 Introduction  
Modern lifestyle is rife with thermoplastics and thermosets, due to their low cost, ease of manufacture, property profile, convenience of use, durability, and abundance of platform monomers derived from petroleum sources [1]. Petroleum-based platform chemicals are synthesized from olefinic or aromatic building blocks to yield plastics. During the last few decades, it has been widely recognized that CO\({}_{2}\) (g) emissions lead to human-induced climate change [2], which has resulted in an increasing call for reduced dependence on petroleum-based resources [3]. However, only a tiny amount of the annual production of plastics originates from biobased resources [4]. In addition, the amount of identified petroleum reserves is not sufficient to support humankind consumption for more than approximately five decades [5]. On the other hand, a variety of non-fossil feedstocks from plants are renewable and could be produced sustainably over the long term. Therefore, the transition from fossil-based to a biobased economy is not only warranted, but also provides many opportunities [6; 7; 8]. Even though biobased materials derived from renewable resources pose a great interest, their upscale production in an ecofriendly manner is still challenging. Moreover, the targeted end-application governs the preferred chemical composition of the biobased candidate, thus restricting possible alternatives. Although monomers suitable for step-growth polymerization are readily available from biobased sources, monomers for chaingrowth polymerization, which require an accessible double bond, are less explored [9]. It is highly motivated to scout biobased resources that can provide monomers containing double bonds since 50% of all polymers are based on chain-growth polymerization [10; 11; 12]. Moreover, the desired chemistries are not easily accessible; hence, research efforts have focused on converting those feedstocks into platform compounds similar to those obtained from petroleum sources through different processes (e.g., chemical or enzymatic) [9; 13; 14]. Within the scope of biobased alternatives, biomass is an abundantly available raw material in many parts of the world. Wood primarily comprises cellulose, with the remainder being hemicellulose and lignin, the latter of which varies between 15% and 30% depending on the wood species [15]. Lignin is an aromatic polymeric network built up from three different monolignol units in varying ratios, depending on the species [16]. One such monolignol is coniferyl alcohol, and it is the most abundant monolignol comprising the lignin network in softwoods [17]. The oxidized form of coniferyl alcohol is denoted as ferulic acid (FA, Scheme 1), which, in addition to being found in trees and grasses, can be found in edible produce, such as grains and fruits [18]; it can also act as a precursor for vanillin [19]. Typically, it is isolated via alkaline or acidic extraction methods [20; 21]; more recently, enzyme-assisted extractions have also been reported, which could enhance the production of FA from biomass [22]. Additionally, it has been shown that FA can be produced through the transformation of eugenol, which is another lignin-derived compound [23]. It is estimated that the global FA market size will reach 135 million USD in the next decade, expecting to exceed 750 tons, with an annual growth rate of 7.9% [24]. Hitherto, FA has been used industrially in the medical and food sector due to its antioxidative properties [25], as well as in research in polycondensation reactions to form polyesters or polyamides by taking advantage of its pristine or modified hydroxyl and carboxylic acid functionalities [26; 27; 28]. It has been shown that FA can be readily decarboxylated to form the styrene-like monomer 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (MVP, Scheme 1) [29; 30]. Recently, MVP was successfully polymerized via ionic polymerization with and without the modification of its phenolic group with silyl ethers [31; 32].