Efficient and Scalable Production of Isoidide from Isosorbide

Isoidide is a biobased monomer of great potential for the production of sustainable, high-performance polymers. Its derivation however from l-iditol, a rare sugar derivative, is impractical. Isoidide can alternatively be produced by the epimerization of isosorbide, a dehydration product of sorbitol. Previously described methods, however, involve extreme reaction conditions and/or isolation procedures that would be unworkable at scale. We report here process innovations for both the production of isoidide from isosorbide as well as the separation of pure isoidide from mixtures with isosorbide and isomannide