Issue 44, 2022

Electrification of a Milstein-type catalyst for alcohol reformation

Abstract

Novel energy and atom efficiency processes will be keys to develop the sustainable chemical industry of the future. Electrification could play an important role, by allowing to fine-tune energy input and using the ideal redox agent: the electron. Here we demonstrate that a commercially available Milstein ruthenium catalyst (1) can be used to promote the electrochemical oxidation of ethanol to ethyl acetate and acetate, thus demonstrating the four electron oxidation under preparative conditions. Cyclic voltammetry and DFT-calculations are used to devise a possible catalytic cycle based on a thermal chemical step generating the key hydride intermediate. Successful electrification of Milstein-type catalysts opens a pathway to use alcohols as a renewable feedstock for the generation of esters and other key building blocks in organic chemistry, thus contributing to increase energy efficiency in organic redox chemistry.

Graphical abstract: Electrification of a Milstein-type catalyst for alcohol reformation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
13 Aug 2022
Accepted
14 Oct 2022
First published
18 Oct 2022
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., 2022,13, 13220-13224

Electrification of a Milstein-type catalyst for alcohol reformation

D. Tocqueville, F. Crisanti, J. Guerrero, E. Nubret, M. Robert, D. Milstein and N. von Wolff, Chem. Sci., 2022, 13, 13220 DOI: 10.1039/D2SC04533H

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