This review presents recent advances in typical routes for drop-in replacement of poly(ethylene terephthalate) monomers from biomass.

The hydrolysis of cellulose over sulfonated carbons was promoted greatly by elevating the sulfonation temperature. With 250 °C-sulfonated CMK-3 as a catalyst, the cellulose was selectively hydrolyzed into glucose with the glucose yield as high as 74.5%, which is the highest level reported so far on solid acid catalysts.

1,6-Hexanediol (1,6-HDO) was effectively prepared from 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) over double-layered catalysts of Pd/SiO₂ + Ir–ReO_x/SiO₂ in a fixed-bed reactor.