Mechanistic Differences between Electrochemical Hydrogenation and Hydrogenolysis of 5‐Hydroxymethylfurfural and Their pH Dependence

Hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis are two important reactions for electrochemical reductive valorization of biomass-derived oxygenates such as 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). In general, hydrogenolysis (which combines hydrogenation and deoxygenation) is more challenging than hydrogenation (which does not involve the cleavage of carbon-oxygen bonds). Thus, identifying factors and conditions that can promote hydrogenolysis is of great interest for reductive valorization of biomass-derived oxygenates. For the electrochemical reduction of HMF and its derivatives, it is known that aldehyde hydrogenation is not a part of aldehyde hydrogenolysis but rather a competing reaction; however, no atomic-level understanding is currently available to explain their electrochemical mechanistic differences. In this study, combined experimental and computational investigations were performed using Cu electrodes to elucidate the key mechanistic differences between electrochemical hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis of HMF. The results revealed that hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis of HMF involve the formation of different surface-adsorbed intermediates via different reduction mechanisms and that lowering the pH promoted the formation of the intermediates required for aldehyde and alcohol hydrogenolysis. This study for the first time explains the origins of the experimentally observed pH-dependent selectivities for hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis and offers a new mechanistic foundation upon which rational strategies to control electrochemical hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis can be developed.