Current Challenges and Future Perspectives in the Sustainable Mechanochemical Transformations of Carbohydrates

The use of mechanochemistry in carbohydrate chemistry is currently a field in which intense research and development is being done due to their obvious applications in green methodologies. Ball milling (BM) is a promising eco-friendly technique with excellent characteristics that allows mostly solvent-free, faster and energy-efficient reactions. This review discusses the state-of the-art in the sustainable transformation of carbohydrates and their biomass using mechanochemistry. We examine the potential and recent advances of mecganochemistry in sustainable transformation of carbohydrates, by providing a cross-section of the recent developments in using BM for the chemical synthesis in solvent-assited and free-solvent reactions and in mechanochemical treatment for biomass valorization, focusing in pretreatment of biomass, catalytic and biocatalytic reactions using BM. The combination of the promising properties of mechanochemistry with enzymes and biomass would be advantageous for setting strategies aligned with the Green Chemistry principles.