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Resumo

In the world, each person produces on average about 1 kg of waste per day. In Brazil, this production varies from 450 to 1,200 grams per inhabitant/day, generating more than 228 thousand tons/day (Moraes et al., 2018). Of the more than 100,000 tons of polystyrene polymer resin produced per year (in Brazil alone), only 34 thousand tons are recycled per year in our country (Albuquerque & Guedes, 2021). What to do with the other 66 thousand tons of non-recycled polystyrene (Isopor®)? By applying “pyrolysis to Styrofoam”, which consists of converting very low-density solid waste into liquid (styrene), making it more compact (dense), moldable, and easy to store and transport. By subjecting styrene to the “Willgerodt reaction”, which due to its common characteristic of converting carbonyl compounds into an amide with the same number of carbon atoms, it is possible to synthesize 2-phenylacetamide, which will later serve as a structural block for the synthesis of class “C” penicillin.