Photoelectrochemical oxidation of organic substrates in organic media

Tengfei Li, Takahito Kasahara, Jingfu He, Kevan E. Dettelbach, Glenn M. Sammis () and Curtis P. Berlinguette ()
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Tengfei Li: The University of British Columbia
Takahito Kasahara: The University of British Columbia
Jingfu He: The University of British Columbia
Kevan E. Dettelbach: The University of British Columbia
Glenn M. Sammis: The University of British Columbia
Curtis P. Berlinguette: The University of British Columbia

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-5

Abstract: Abstract There is a global effort to convert sunlight into fuels by photoelectrochemically splitting water to form hydrogen fuels, but the dioxygen byproduct bears little economic value. This raises the important question of whether higher value commodities can be produced instead of dioxygen. We report here photoelectrochemistry at a BiVO4 photoanode involving the oxidation of substrates in organic media. The use of MeCN instead of water enables a broader set of chemical transformations to be performed (e.g., alcohol oxidation and C-H activation/oxidation), while suppressing photocorrosion of BiVO4 that otherwise occurs readily in water, and sunlight reduces the electrical energy required to drive organic transformations by 60%. These collective results demonstrate the utility of using photoelectrochemical cells to mediate organic transformations that otherwise require expensive and toxic reagents or catalysts.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00420-y

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