Historically the chemical industry has been driven by thermal processes heated by the combustion of fossil fuels. As the increase of renewable electricity to the grid continues, significant opportunities exist to drive chemical processes with electricity rather than heat, displacing the CO<sub>2</sub> emissions associated with the combustion-heated processes. Electrochemical reactions are amenable for this transition to electrically-driven systems and also offer opportunities to re-evaluate feedstocks and production scenarios. For example, electrochemical conversion of biomass-derived species at distributed biorefineries become more viable. Before electrochemical reactions can become fully realized, the influence of reaction parameters, kinetics and mechanisms need to be understood. The electrochemical hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis (ECH) of furfural will be utilized as an example for how parameters influence reaction performance and how mechanisms and kinetics can be developed. Utilizing copper electrocatalysts, the chemical intermediate furfuryl alcohol and the fuel candidate 2-methyl furan can be synthesized by ECH of furfural. The pH of the electrolyte significantly impacts the product selectivity and the impact of homogeneous side reactions. The reaction mechanisms and kinetics can be developed utilizing initial rate studies. These rates can be combined with side reaction kinetics to understand the implications of reaction conditions better.

Developing electrochemical hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis reactions of furanics reactions for decarbonization of chemical processes

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