Abstract
Electrochemical transformation offers a green and sustainable process in water treatment, energy conversion, and chemical synthesis. In particular, paired electrolysis systems, which produce valuable products by both anodic oxidation and cathodic reduction, can make the most efficient use of energy. Herein, we developed the oxidation of benzyl alcohols by paired electrolysis using O2 as the terminal oxidant and an aqueous medium as the electrolyte. The key to this system is the cathodic oxidation path, and the highly oxidizing reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by O2 reduction at the cathode oxidizes benzyl alcohol. This path at the cathode is an indirect oxidation path. Thus, by using both direct oxidation at the anode and indirect oxidation at the cathode, the desired benzaldehyde can be produced with high productivity and efficiency. We obtained the corresponding benzaldehyde in yields as high as 94%, and the system achieved a current efficiency as high as 146%. Especially, the ability to exceed 100% current efficiency is one of the advantages of the paired electrolysis route, and the observed results support the proposed mechanism of linear paired electrolysis.
Published Version
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