Biomass is a promising feedstock for the manufacture of key building block chemicals and fuels to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), which can be derived from cellulose, has been identified as a versatile building block chemical for the production of industrially and commercially desirable products. Recently, the oxidation of HMF to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) has garnered a considerable amount of attention, as FDCA can serve as a bio-based replacement for terephtalic acid, which is used in many polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate. Aqueous FDCA production has typically been performed in high pH conditions where FDCA is soluble. The easiest means to separate FDCA from solution is to lower the pH to where FDCA is insoluble and then filter it from solution. The industrial practice of this separation method would result in a high manufacturing cost due to the amount of acid and base needed to vary the pH before and after the reaction and the additional steps required to remove excess salt waste. In this presentation, our recent effort in discovering catalytic anodes for electrochemical oxidation of HMF to FDCA under acidic conditions will be discussed. The low pH used in this study allowed for simple FDCA separation, without requiring the addition of acid. Furthermore, because the oxidation is driven electrochemically, chemical oxidations and high pressures of O<sub>2</sub> are not needed. The method discussed in this presentation can provide simple and cost effect routes for FDCA production that may be viable for industrial FDCA production.

Development of catalytic anodes that enable electrochemical oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid in acidic media

255th National Meeting (2018)

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