Synthesis of UV absorbers with cashew shell oil

An international team of scientists has successfully used cashew shell oil instead of crude oil for organic synthesis.
An international team of researchers led by Professor Till Opatz of the Institute of Organic Chemistry at the University of Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany, and Professor Charles de Koning of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, used shell oil, which is produced in large quantities during cashew nut processing, as a sustainable raw material for new organic UV filters. This means that there is no competition in food and feed production

. The use of shell oil can be considered in the broader chemical sense of woody biomass as a chemically synthesized carbon source.
protects against UV rays
share of ultraviolet (UV) in the sun can lead to health problems in humans and animals. It can cause premature skin aging and even life-threatening. Natural UV radiation can also have a devastating effect on materials such as plastics, paints and coatings. In this case, the chemical UV filter can be used to prevent damage caused by UV rays. These are either minerals in nature, such as titanium dioxide, or organic matter in nature, i.e. they are made up of carbon compounds. In both cases, they can be applied to sunscreen and paint, or directly to the material to be protected.
, both types of UV filters have been criticized for different reasons. For example, for some organic filters, their compatibness with aquatic organisms is too low. In addition, almost all organic UV filters - like most other organic chemicals - are currently made of oil.
the study was published in the European Journal of Organic Chemistry, No. 30 of 2019, pp. 4778-4790.