Leaded Bronze Foams As Innovative Electrodes for Organic Electrosynthesis

Abstract

The electrification of organic synthesis represents an outstanding green alternative to prepare valuable and fine chemicals. However, the design of electrode materials for organic electrosynthesis remains as an open field to investigate. Motivated by the superior performance of leaded bronzes as electrodes for reductive transformations,[1, 2, 3] we have developed highly porous binary and ternary leaded metal foams through the dynamic hydrogen bubble template method [4] and tested them as cathodes in the electro-organic synthesis of 2,6-dichlorobenzonitrile from 2,6-dichlorobenzaldoxime.[5]The electrocatalytic performance of the novel leaded foams was compared to the one of the planar CuSn7Pb15 leaded bronze. The novel porous leaded foams outperformed the CuSn7Pb15 electrodes in terms of chemical yield and energy efficiency. Furthermore, due to their highly crystalline surface, these materials are mechanically more stable and less prone to cathodic corrosion than flat Pb and CuSn7Pb15 electrodes.