Highly selective electrocatalytic alkynol semi-hydrogenation for continuous production of alkenols

Alkynols semi-hydrogenation is a critical industrial process as the product, alkenols, have extensive applications in chemistry and life sciences. However, this class of reactions is plagued by the use of high-pressure hydrogen, Pd-based catalysts, and low efficiency of the contemporary thermocataly...

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Veröffentlicht in:Nature communications 2023-03, Vol.14 (1), p.1533-1533, Article 1533
Hauptverfasser: Bu, Jun, Chang, Siyu, Li, Jinjin, Yang, Sanyin, Ma, Wenxiu, Liu, Zhenpeng, An, Siying, Wang, Yanan, Li, Zhen, Zhang, Jian
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:Alkynols semi-hydrogenation is a critical industrial process as the product, alkenols, have extensive applications in chemistry and life sciences. However, this class of reactions is plagued by the use of high-pressure hydrogen, Pd-based catalysts, and low efficiency of the contemporary thermocatalytic process. Here, we report an electrocatalytic approach for selectively hydrogenating alkynols to alkenols under ambient conditions. For representative 2-methyl-3-butene-2-ol, Cu nanoarrays derived electrochemically from CuO, achieve a high partial current density of 750 mA cm − 2 and specific selectivity of 97% at −0.88 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode in alkaline solution. Even in a large two-electrode flow electrolyser, the Cu nanoarrays deliver a single-pass alkynol conversion of 93% with continuous production of 2-methyl-3-butene-2-ol at a rate of ~169 g g Cu − 1 h − 1 . Theoretical and in situ electrochemical infrared investigations reveal that the semi-hydrogenation performance is enhanced by exothermic alkynol adsorption and alkenol desorption on the Cu surfaces. Furthermore, this electrocatalytic semi-hydrogenation strategy is shown to be applicable to a variety of alkynol substrates. Thermocatalytic alkynol semi-hydrogenation often uses high-pressure H 2 and Pd-based catalysts. Here, using a Cu-based electrode, the authors investigate the electrocatalytic alkynol semi-hydrogenation to alkenols with water as the hydrogen source.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-023-37251-z