I will plant in the wilderness the cedar the acacia-tree and the myrtle and the oil-tree; I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane-tree and the larch together; That they may see, and know and consider and understand together, That the hand of the Lord hath done this, ... Isaiah, 41:19 and 20 (first portion) The need to improve our utilization of the Earth's natural resources is everyone's business, from every country. This book presents papers from all parts of the world on the subject of making new or improved polymers from renewable resources, be they plastics, elastomers, fibers, coatings, or adhesives. In important ways, this book constitutes part II of an edited work published by Plenum Press in 1983, "Polymer Applications of Renewable-Resource Materials. " To that extent, about half of the authors are the same. However, their papers present an update of their research three years later. The other half of the authors are entirely new. Bo~h of these books grew out of symposia sponsored by the Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering Division of the American Chemical Society. The papers for the present book are based loosely on a symposium held at the Miami Beach meeting in April, 1985. Unfortunately, interest in polymers from renewable resources fluctuates with the price and availability of petroleum oil. At the time of writing this preface, the price is low, and appears to be headed lower still.

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Section One: Review.- Modern Polymers From Natural Products.- Section Two: Saccharides and Polysaccharides.- Natural Vegetable Fibers: A Status Report.- Polysaccharides From Lichens: 13C-NMR Studies on (l-6)-Beta-D-Glucan (Pustulan).- Sugar Containing Polymers Derived From Organostannes and Bis-(Cyclopentadienyl)titanium Dichloride.- Synthesis of Titanium, Zirconium and Hafnium Modified Polysaccharides.- Newer Applications of Bagasse.- Section Three: Graft Polysaccharides.- Use of Grafted Wood Fibers in Thermoplastic Composites V. Polystyrene.- The Xanthate Method of Grafting: XI. Grafting of Methylmethacrylate on Hardwood Pulp.- Oil Absorbency of Graft Copolymers From Softwood Pulp.- Chemically Modified Carbohydrates as Highly Efficient Regio- and Stereoselective Catalysts for Hydrogenation..- Dextran Hemopolymers as Model Systems for Biologically Active Proteins.- Graft Copolymerization onto Cellulose Acetate and Wood Using Anionic Polymerization.- Chemical Modification of Wood: Reaction with Thioacetic Acid and Its Effect on Physical and Mechanical Properties and Biological Resistance.- Section Four: Oils.- Behavior of Water in Oriental Lacquers.- Simultaneous Interpenetrating Networks Based on Vernonia Oil Polyesters and Polystyrene. II. A Comparison of the Reactivities of Vernonia Oil and Castor Oil Toward the Formation of Polyesters.- Polymers From Renewable Resources: Crosslinking and Thermal Behavior.- Section Five: Proteins and Leather.- The Optimization of the Mechanical Properties of Reinforced Collagen Films.- Titanium-Containing Poly-Alpha-Amino Acids From Dipeptides.- Viscoelasticity of Calf Hide Impregnated with Radiation-Polymerized Polyhydroxyethyl Methacrylate.- Radiation Polymerized Graft Copolymers for Leather.- Section Six: Rubber, Lignin, and Tannin.- Chemical Modification of Natural Rubber as a Route to Renewable Resource Elastomers.- Short Fibre-Rubber Composites.- Kraft Lignins: A New Perspective.- Review of the Synthesis, Characterization, and Testing of Graft Copolymers of Lignin.- Natural Tannins for Cold-Setting Wood Adhesives.