Furans as offspring of sugars and polysaccharides and progenitors of a family of remarkable polymers: a review of recent progress

The recent literature on polymers incorporating furan heterocycles or moieties derived from them is reviewed to highlight an important area of polymers from renewable resources. Emphasis is placed on novel applications of furfuryl alcohol, conjugated polymers, polyesters and the application of the Diels-Alder reaction to prepare thermoreversible macromolecular architectures.