Multifaceted Roles of Cyrene Towards Green Chemistry

Most principles of green chemistry are directly or indirectly related to the solvent, which plays multiple roles, including acting as a catalyst for increasing the reaction efficiency and providing a medium for the reactants. Thus, the development of an appropriate solvent or catalyst may play a key role in green and sustainable chemistry. Dihydrolevoglucosenone, commonly known as Cyrene, may play diverse roles, making the chemical synthesis cleaner, greener, more effective, and sustainable. Cyrene is a biomass-derived solvent that is non-toxic, non-mutagenic, and biodegradable and may be employed in green chemistry synthesis. The physical and chemical properties of Cyrene make it a better substitute for toxic solvents like NMP, DMF, and DMSO used in organic chemistry, the plastic industry, drug discovery, electronics, and material chemistry. Cyrene has been successfully employed as a solvent in materials chemistry, peptide chemistry, organic synthesis, and many other research fields. This review presents the recent advances in cleaner, greener organic synthesis involving the green solvent Cyrene. It discusses reactions that are synthesized using Cyrene as a solvent, including its role in bio-catalysis and material chemistry.