Products Cited in Publications Worldwide Electrocatalytic valorization of biomass derived platform chemical 5-hydroxymethylfurfural

Electrocatalytic valorization of biomass derived platform chemical 5-hydroxymethylfurfural

Huddleston, Morgan

Abstract

Electrocatalytic valorization of biomass-derived intermediate compounds to value-added products has emerged as a promising approach to mitigate carbon emissions. Capitalizing on renewable electricity as a green energy input for conducting paired electrocatalysis is a promising approach in the field of biorefining. Simultaneous oxidation and reduction of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) yields high value products such as 2,5-formylfurancarboxylic acid (FFCA) and 2,5-bishydroxymethylfurfural (BHMF) with applications in the food industry, fuel additives, and pharmaceuticals. Simultaneous upgrading of biomass derived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) at both the anode and cathode has been previously explored, however the challenge of tunable selectivity has not been overcome. Traditional electrochemical methods often suffer from energy inefficiencies due to the need for a second conversion at the counter electrode, which can produce non-value-added byproducts. Amino acids are a key example of highly valuable products derived from biomass oxidation followed by reductive amination. Pharmaceutical and food industries will benefit from an alternative strategy to produce amino acids that does not rely on inefficient fermentation processes. The use of renewable biomass resources as starting materials makes this proposed strategy more desirable. HMF can be proven to selectively yield 5-formyl-2-furancarboxylic acid (FFCA) under the same electrochemical conditions as HMF hydrogenation to 2,5-bishydroxymethylfuran (BHMF). With 4-acetamido TEMPO (ACT) as a homogeneous oxidation mediator and silver galvanically displaced copper foam (Ag/Cu) as the cathodic electrocatalyst, both electrochemical conversions can be observed in an H-type cell simultaneously. By employing pH 10 carbonate buffer as the optimized electrolyte, water proves to be an effective proton source for both conversion which demonstrates the extremely mild conditions. HMF anodic conversion of 94% leads to FFCA formation of 83% yield and simultaneous HMF cathodic conversion of 100% yields BHMF at 99%. HMF also oxidizes to 2,5-diformylfuran (DFF) with 75% yield and subsequent amination with ammonium hydroxide followed by reductive hydrogenation yields 2,5-(dimethylamino) furan (DMAF). This paired electrochemical approach for the selective oxidation of biomass-derived α-hydroxyl acids to α-keto acids, followed by electrochemical reductive amination yield amino acids as the final products. Glycine, Alanine, and Leucine were synthesized with N-hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI) as the oxidation mediator and NH3 as the nitrogen source to yields of 70, 80, and 90%. Phenylalanine required tetramethylpiperidine Noxyl (TEMPO) oxidation mediator with applying the same 2.7 V yielded 100%. Our paired electrolysis improves selectivity and doubles electron efficiency, with the flow electrolyzer demonstrating its potential for large-scale applications. The main challenge for widespread use of our proposed paired electrocatalytic method is the cost of industrial-scale small molecule production. Paired electrocatalysis offers an alternative by using both half-reactions in an electrochemical cell to produce value-added chemicals from biomass feedstocks. The operational principles and benefits of various cell configurations are compared, along with an analysis of electrocatalysts. Heterogeneous and bifunctional catalysts in paired electrocatalysis optimize energy and chemical use, eliminating the need for purification. The future will require further optimization to enhance the benefits of biomass valorization through paired electrocatalysis, while addressing challenges like cost of precursors, large-scale facility expenses, and widespread adoption of sustainably sourced energy.

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