Identification of More Benign Cathode Materials for the Electrochemical Reduction of Levulinic Acid to Valeric Acid

Roel J.M. Bisselink*, Marc Crockatt, Martin Zijlstra, Ivan J. Bakker, Earl Goetheer, Ted M. Slaghek, Daan S. van Es

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The electrochemical production of valeric acid from the renewable bio-based feedstock levulinic acid has the potential to replace the oxo-process, which uses fossil-based feedstock 1-butylene. The electrochemical reduction of the ketone functionality in levulinic acid using lead or mercury cathodes has already been known for over 100 years. However, large-scale electrochemical production of valeric acid might be limited, owing to the toxicity of these materials. In this study, we identified three additional cathode materials, cadmium, indium, and zinc, which selectively and efficiently produce valeric acid. Of these materials, indium and zinc are considered more benign. More specifically, at indium there is no formation of the side product γ-valerolactone, thus resulting in the highest selectivity towards valeric acid. For the electrochemical reduction, a reaction mechanism involving the formation of an organometallic compound is proposed. Furthermore, a possible processing strategy is outlined to enable the continuous electrochemical production of valeric acid on a large scale.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3285-3290
JournalChemElectroChem
Volume6
Issue number13
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Keywords

  • Clemmensen reduction
  • deoxygenation
  • electrocatalysis
  • renewable resources
  • sustainable chemistry

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