Issue 30, 2023

Polymer up-cycling by mangana-electrocatalytic C(sp3)–H azidation without directing groups

Abstract

The chemical up-cycling of polymers into value-added materials offers a unique opportunity to place plastic waste in a new value chain towards a circular economy. Herein, we report the selective up-cycling of polystyrenes and polyolefins to C(sp3)–H azidated materials under electrocatalytic conditions. The functionalized polymers were obtained with high retention of mass average molecular mass and high functionalization through chemo-selective mangana-electrocatalysis. Our strategy proved to be broadly applicable to a variety of homo- and copolymers. Polyethylene, polypropylene as well as post-consumer polystyrene materials were functionalized by this approach, thereby avoiding the use of hypervalent-iodine reagents in stoichiometric quantities by means of electrocatalysis. This study, hence, represents a chemical oxidant-free polymer functionalization by electro-oxidation. The electrocatalysis proved to be scalable, which highlights its unique feature for a green hydrogen economy by means of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).

Graphical abstract: Polymer up-cycling by mangana-electrocatalytic C(sp3)–H azidation without directing groups

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
19 may 2023
Accepted
04 iyl 2023
First published
05 iyl 2023
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2023,14, 8109-8118

Polymer up-cycling by mangana-electrocatalytic C(sp3)–H azidation without directing groups

I. Maksso, R. C. Samanta, Y. Zhan, K. Zhang, S. Warratz and L. Ackermann, Chem. Sci., 2023, 14, 8109 DOI: 10.1039/D3SC02549G

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