U.S. patent application 20170233363 on producing and isolating 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, naming Catia Bastioli, was published.
On August 17, 2017, U.S. patent application publication number 20170233363, titled "Process for the production and isolation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural," was made public, disclosing the invention filed by Novamont S.p.A. in October 2015, with Catia Bastioli listed among the inventors.
The publication provided public access to details of an improved process for producing and purifying 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a key renewable platform chemical, at a time when interest in bio-based chemical building blocks was rapidly accelerating across Europe amid growing regulatory and market pressure to reduce reliance on fossil-derived feedstocks.
This publication came in the same year Bastioli was recognized internationally as "Person of the Year" by Bioplastics News (2017), reflecting the convergence of her ongoing technical contributions with growing public and industry recognition of her leadership in sustainable materials science. The disclosure of this process further solidified Novamont's, and Bastioli's, standing at the forefront of green chemistry innovation, extending a legacy that began with starch-based bioplastics decades earlier into the broader biorefinery and renewable chemicals space.