Electrocatalytic hydrogenation of lignin monomer to methoxy-cyclohexanes with high faradaic efficiency

Abstract

Developing efficient renewable electrocatalytic processes in chemical manufacturing is of commercial interest, especially from biomass-derived feedstock. Selective electrocatalytic hydrogenation (ECH) of biomass-derived lignin monomers to high-value oxygen-functional compounds is promising towards achieving this goal. However, ECH has to date lacked the satisfied selectivity to upgrade lignin monomers to high-value oxygenated chemicals due to the reduction of vulnerable −OCH₃ that exists in most lignin monomers. Herein we report carbon-felt supported ternary RhPtRu catalysts with a record faradaic efficiency (FE) of 62.8% and selectivity of 91.2% to methoxy-cyclohexanes (2-methoxy-cyclohexanol and 2-methoxy-cyclohexanone) from guaiacol, via a strong inhibition effect on the cleavage of the methoxy group, representing the best performance compared to previous reports. We further conducted a brief TEA to demonstrate a profitable ECH of guaiacol to high-value methoxy-cyclohexanes using our designed RhPtRu ternary catalysts.