Electrochemical Incorporation of Carbon Dioxide into Fluorotoluene Derivatives under Mild Conditions

Silvia Mena,Jesus Bernad,Gonzalo Guirado

doi:10.3390/catal11080880

Silvia Mena, Jesus Bernad + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/catal11080880

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Abstract

One of the main challenges to combat climate change is to eliminate or reuse Carbon dioxide (CO2), the largest contributor to the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. It is also important to synthesize compounds through greener technologies in order to obtain more environmentally friendly solutions. This study describes the electrocarboxylation process of α,α,α-trifluorotoluene using different working electrodes (glassy carbon, silver and copper) and electrolytes (polar aprotic solvent and ionic liquid). Carboxylated compounds were obtained in the same way in both electrolytic medias with more than 80% conversion rates, high yields, good selectivity, and moderate efficiencies using silver and copper as cathodes in organic electrolytes and ionic liquids.

Highlights

Atmospheric CO2 is the main source of carbon for life on Earth
All of the commercially available reagents, α,α,α-trifluorotoluene, iodomethane (MeI), N,N’-dimethylformamide (DMF), and tetrabutylammonium hexafluorophosphate (TBA PF6) were acquired from Sigma-Aldrich (Madrid, Spain) with maximum purity and used as received. 1-butyl−1methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulphonyl)imide (BMPyr TFSI) was acquired from Solvionic (Toulouse, France) and was dried with activated molecular sieves for 24 h to guarantee that the amount of water was always less than 100 ppm
A three-electrode electrochemical system in a one-compartment conical cell was used for the set-up of cyclic voltammetry (CV) and controlled potential electrolysis

Summary

Introduction

Atmospheric CO2 is the main source of carbon for life on Earth. even though carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere is a trace gas compared to nitrogen (78.1%) and oxygen (20.9%), due to anthropogenic activity (fossil fuel combustion and deforestation) its atmospheric concentration has increased by about 43% since the beginning of industrialization [1]. Renewable (or green) energy is a term that describes energy generated from environmentally friendly primary energy sources. Their production method does not emit by-products that can have a negative impact on the environment. Examples of strategies for CO2 capture and storage based on chemical systems are the use of aqueous amines, the most used of which are methanolamine (MEA) and diethanolamine (DEA), which are known to have a high affinity for CO2 [4] Another common method is the use of MOFs [5] (with high potential but with less soft conditions), microalgae [6], bacteria, and ionic liquids [7]

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