Eugenol, a Promising Building Block for Biobased Polymers with Cutting-Edge Properties

Biobased materials, derived from biomass building blocks, are essential in the pursuit of sustainable materials. Eugenol, a natural phenol obtained from clove oil, but also from lignin depolymerization, possesses a chemical structure that allows its easy modification to obtain a broad and versatile platform of biobased monomers. In this Perspective, an overview of the variety of reactions that have been executed on the allylic double bond, phenol hydroxyl group, aromatic ring, and methoxy group is given, focusing our attention on those to obtain monomers suitable for different polymerization reactions. Furthermore, possible applications and perspectives on the eugenol-derived materials are provided.