Efficient photoelectrochemical Kolbe C–C coupling at BiVO 4 electrodes under visible light irradiation

Electrochemical Kolbe C–C coupling of carboxylic acids at Pt electrodes has been studied for over 150 years and remains relevant today because renewable electricity is envisaged to make an increasing contribution to clean chemical processes and carboxylic acids are readily available precursors for chemical synthesis. Traditional electrochemical Kolbe occurs typically at very high potential (>10 V) which is required to achieve high selectivity for C–C coupling. Here we describe porous BiVO 4 photoelectrodes that mediate C–C Kolbe coupling with near quantitative faradaic efficiency under visible light irradiation at