One-pot redox cascade paired electrosynthesis of gamma-butyrolactone from furoic acid.

ABSTRACT: The catalytic valorisation of biomass to afford synthetically useful small molecules is essential for sustainable biorefinery processes. Herein, we present a mild cascaded electrochemical protocol for converting furoic acid, a common biomass-derived feedstock, into a versatile platform chemical, gamma-butyrolactone. In the platinum(+)|nickel(-) electrode paired undivided cell, furoic acid is electrochemically oxidised with 84.2% selectivity to 2(5H)-furanone, the olefin of which is then hydrogenated to yield gamma-butyrolactone with 98.5% selectivity. The final gamma-butyrolactone yield is 69.1% with 38.3% Faradaic efficiency and 80.1% carbon balance when the reaction is performed with 100 mM furoic acid at 80 °C at +2.0 V_Ag/AgCl. Mechanistic investigation revealed the critical

SUBMITTER: Liu S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10850494 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature