Affiliation:
1. Ruhr University Bochum Chair of Inorganic Chemistry I – Technical Electrochemistry Universitätsstr. 150 44801 Bochum Germany
2. Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT Department Electrosynthesis Osterfelder Str. 3 46047 Oberhausen Germany
Abstract
AbstractElectrochemical hydrogenations (EChH) constitute a sustainable alternative to conventional thermocatalytic hydrogenation. Here, we explored the EChH of the vitamin E and A synthon 2‐methyl‐3‐butyn‐2‐ol in a scalable zero‐gap electrolyzer and revealed crucial effects of electrolyte composition and convection parameters to consider for optimization. We show that high Faraday efficiencies can be achieved with low to moderate concentrations of neutral or alkaline electrolytes. While the flow rate has a strong impact on performance, electrode compression and cell orientation can be used for fine tuning. We achieved a Faraday efficiency of up to 69 % for the targeted semi‐hydrogenated product at current densities of 80 mA cm−2 at 2.2 V cell voltage and a concentration of 1 M 2‐methyl‐3‐butyn‐2‐ol.
Funder
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Mercator Research Center Ruhr
Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes