4. Conclusion

Vanillin is structurally capable of replacing petroleum-based aromatic compounds. This substitution is initially of real interest for the replacement of very dangerous aromatic compounds (such as phenol, bisphenol A...) which are targeted by future bans. Indeed, while lignin volumes are colossal and could enable the production of large quantities of vanillin, current vanillin production would not enable the replacement of substances derived from benzene (60 Mt/year). On the other hand, vanillin may also be the basis for entirely new polymers with interesting properties in fields as varied as chelating metal ions