Electrochemical Conversion of Biomass Derived Products into High-Value Chemicals

Chemical manufacturing industries are plagued with energy- and cost-intensive processes, employing harsh reaction conditions and toxic/expensive catalysts to drive chemical conversions. Furthermore, the resultant product distributions are complex, introducing difficulty for isolation of respective constituents. In this regard, electrosynthesis starting from biomass-derived platform chemicals (i.e., glycerol, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, levulinic acid, and muconic acid), serves as a promising avenue for driving specific molecular transformations and direct synthesis of high-value chemicals. Here, our focused review highlights fundamental perspectives concerning electrosynthesis (proton/electron transfer processes, oxygenation, and hydrogenation mechanisms), bottlenecks in achieving selective product generation, and recent advancements in the field. We rationalize the design of electrochemical systems through noting influence of setups and catalyst design strategies in correlation to product selectivity. Operational analysis/characterizations and theoretical calculations are discussed to achieve understanding of mechanistic pathways and intermediate/product generations. Finally, we provide a succinct outlook for deriving these promising electrochemical technologies.