Selective photocatalytic C-C bond cleavage under ambient conditions with earth abundant vanadium complexes.

ABSTRACT: Selective C-C bond cleavage under ambient conditions is a challenging chemical transformation that can be a valuable tool for organic syntheses and macromolecular disassembly. Herein, we show that base metal vanadium photocatalysts can harvest visible light to effect the chemoselective C-C bond cleavage of lignin model compounds under ambient conditions. Lignin, a major aromatic constituent of non-food biomass, is an inexpensive, accessible source of fine chemical feedstocks such as phenols and aryl ethers. However, existing lignin degradation technologies are harsh and indiscriminately degrade valuable functional groups to produce intractable mixtures. The selective, photocatalytic depolymerization of lignin remains underexplored. In the course of our studies on lignin model compounds, we

SUBMITTER: Gazi S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5951195 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature