Sustainable Electrochemical Production of Tartaric Acid

Abstract

Herein, we describe a study of the electrochemical reduction of oxalic and glyoxylic acids toward a feasible green and sustainable production of tartaric acid in aqueous and/or acetonitrile solvent using silver and lead electrodes. Our results show that on the silver electrode, for both oxalic acid and glyoxylic acid, the reduction reaction is more favorable toward the dimerization step, leading to tartaric acid, due to the increase in the local pH, while on the lead electrode, the step involving the protonation of the intermediate is more favorable, leading to the formation of glycolate. Techno-economic analysis shows that tartaric acid production from glyoxylic acid and from oxalic acid via electrochemical synthesis can be a potential process at the industrial scale. In the present case, the oxygen evolution reaction was chosen as the reaction at the other electrode for practical reasons, but oxygen is a low-value product. Another anodic reaction with a more valuable oxidation product can be selected to increase the profitability of the overall electrochemical process and thereby decrease the total production costs of tartaric acid.

Electrocatalytic production of glycolic acid via oxalic acid reduction on titania debris supported on a TiO2 nanotube array

“…The use of bio-based raw materials and catalytic or enzymatic processes represents an alternative possibility, but still the processes are at only the lab-scale development [12]. Note also that as remarked in Scheme 1, the route can be extended to produce in a sustainable process also other chemicals such as tartaric acid [13], besides to a range of valuable derivatives of GO and GC, not shown in Scheme 1 for conciseness.…”

Catalysis for e-Chemistry: Need and Gaps for a Future De-Fossilized Chemical Production, with Focus on the Role of Complex (Direct) Syntheses by Electrocatalysis

“…This electrocatalytic chemistry is investigated in the EU project OCEAN (Oxalic acid from CO 2 using electrochemistry at demonstration scale, grant 767798). Oxalic acid can be electrocatalytically reduced to glyoxylic acid and further to tartaric acid, 88 opening a new path to C4 chemistry from CO 2 .…”

Catalytic Synthesis of Tartaric Acid from Glucose and Gluconic Acid over AuPt/TiO2 Catalysts: Studies on Catalyst Structure–Performance Dependency

“…Traditionally, TA is obtained as a solid byproduct from wine fermentation. , The productivity and capacity are strongly affected by climate conditions during the growth of grapes. Chemical synthesis of TA with maleic acid is also possible, , but this process is considered to be cost-ineffective and environmentally unfriendly, owing to higher price of feedstocks and significant generation of toxic byproducts during oxidation processes. Oxidation of glucose with HNO 3 , nitroxide, and NaNO 2 has also been reported in the range of 50 to 80 °C, however with poor TA yield (<10%). − In addition to corrosive hazards, separation and recyclability of homogeneous catalysts from the products still remain a grand challenge in this area.…”