Electrocatalytic hydrogenation and hydrodeoxygenation of oxygenated and unsaturated organic compounds

A process for performing electrocatalytic hydrogenation (ECH) and optionally electrocatalytic hydrodeoxygenation (ECHDO) of an organic substrate, the process comprising:

• (a) providing a reaction mixture comprising at least one of a multicomponent bio-oil and a multicomponent bio-oil fraction, which comprises a plurality of different organic reactants each comprising an aromatic CH group and being selected from the group consisting of hydroxy-substituted aromatic compounds, methoxy-substituted aromatic compounds, oligomerization products thereof, and combinations thereof;
• (b) contacting the reaction mixture with a first electrode comprising a catalytic electrode composition comprising (i) a porous activated carbon cloth (ACC) support and (ii) metal catalyst particles immobilized on the ACC support, wherein:
• the metal catalyst particles comprise a metal selected from the group consisting of Ru, Fe, Cu, Pt, Rh, Ir, Re, Os, Ag, Au, Co, Mo, Ga, mixtures thereof, alloys thereof, and combinations thereof;
• the metal catalyst particles of the first electrode are capable of catalyzing ECH of aromatic CH groups to form corresponding CH2 groups,
• the metal catalyst particles immobilized on the ACC support are not mobile, and
• the metal catalyst particles have been immobilized on the ACC support prior to contacting the ACC support with (i) the reaction mixture or (ii) one or more of water or a water-miscible solvent to which the plurality of organic reactants is added to form the reaction mixture;
• (c) electrically contacting the reaction mixture with a second electrode;
• and
• (d) applying an electrical potential between the first electrode and the second electrode to provide an electrical current therebetween and through the reaction mixture, thereby performing an ECH reaction to reduce the aromatic CH group of each of the plurality of organic reactants and to form ECH reaction products thereof each comprising a CH2 group, wherein at least one of the plurality of organic reactants has a conversion of at least 0.8.