Patent ID: 8647492

Claim:
A method for producing a coupled radical product from biomass comprising: providing an electrolytic cell comprising an anolyte compartment having an anode and housing an anolyte, a catholyte compartment having a cathode and housing a catholyte, and a NaSICON membrane separating the anolyte compartment and the catholyte compartment; obtaining a quantity of a biomass comprising a lipid; converting the lipid into a fatty acid by one or more of hydrolysis, fermentation, and saponification; saponifying the fatty acid to produce a sodium metal salt of the fatty acid, wherein the sodium metal salt of the fatty acid has a number of carbon atoms and wherein saponifying the fatty acid occurs in the catholyte compartment and comprises reacting a base produced by electrolysis from the catholyte with a quantity of the fatty acid to produce the sodium metal salt of the fatty acid; wherein the anolyte comprises a quantity of the sodium metal salt of the fatty acid and at least one G-type solvent and at least one H-type solvent; adding to the anolyte, a quantity of a supporting electrolyte comprising a sodium salt of a lower alkyl carboxylic acid, wherein the sodium salt of the lower alkyl carboxylic acid is selected to have a predetermined number of carbon atoms; and decarboxylating the sodium metal salt of the fatty acid within the anolyte, wherein the decarboxylating step occurs by electrolysis within the anolyte compartment and converts the sodium metal salt of the fatty acid into at least one alkyl radical and converts the supporting electrolyte into a lower alkyl radical or to a hydrogen radical that react to form a hydrocarbon coupled radical product comprising a hydrocarbon having a total number of carbon atoms based upon the number of carbon atoms of the sodium metal salt of the fatty acid or the predetermined number of carbon atoms of the sodium salt of the lower alkyl carboxylic acid.