A supporting-electrolyte-free four-compartment electrochemical reactor for aqueous and organic phase electrosynthesis
Abstract
Electrosynthesis offers a promising method to make valuable chemicals under mild conditions; however, its application has been greatly hampered by issues including the requirement of a supporting electrolyte, the limited solubility of reactant(s) in electrochemical compartments, the complex product(s) separation processes, etc. Herein, we innovatively present a four-compartment electrochemical reactor equipped with delicately designed active species diffusion membrane electrodes. Four compartments include two chemical (reduction and oxidation) compartments and two electrochemical (cathode and anode) compartments. The unique membrane electrodes physically separate the chemical compartments (containing organic reactants in pure solvent) from the electrochemical compartments (containing supporting electrolytes), while allowing electrosynthesis of high-value-added chemicals in both nonconducting aqueous and organic environments without the need of a supporting electrolyte. The reactor is able to drive both the anodic electrosynthesis (e.g., oxidation with a halogenation yield > 93%) and the cathodic electrosynthesis (e.g., reduction with a hydrogenation yield > 95% and a deuteration incorporation > 85%). The batch four-compartment electrochemical reactor can be engineered into a continuous type, where substrates in pure solvent can be converted into products with a conversion > 90% as they travel from the inlet to the outlet of the continuous reactor.
Article Details
Journal Info
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
Authors (11)
Huan Wu
Petroleum and Chemical Industry Key Laboratory of Organic Electrochemical Synthesis, State Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Synthesis and Conversion, College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology,
Baoquan Liu
Petroleum and Chemical Industry Key Laboratory of Organic Electrochemical Synthesis, State Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Synthesis and Conversion, College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology,
Chenliang Su
Institute of Microscale Optoelectronics
Deyin Chen
Petroleum and Chemical Industry Key Laboratory of Organic Electrochemical Synthesis, State Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Synthesis and Conversion, College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology,
Longhao Jiao
Petroleum and Chemical Industry Key Laboratory of Organic Electrochemical Synthesis, State Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Synthesis and Conversion, College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology,
Huajun Zheng
Department of Applied Chemistry, Petroleum and Chemical Industry Key Laboratory of Organic Electrochemical Synthesis, State Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Synthesis and Conversion
Lianbang Wang
Petroleum and Chemical Industry Key Laboratory of Organic Electrochemical Synthesis, State Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Synthesis and Conversion, College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology,
Zhenyuan Teng
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Lianchong Shao
Petroleum and Chemical Industry Key Laboratory of Organic Electrochemical Synthesis, State Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Synthesis and Conversion, College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology,
Yinghua Xu
Bin Liu