Suppressing carboxylate nucleophilicity with inorganic salts enables selective electrocarboxylation without sacrificial anodes.

ABSTRACT: Although electrocarboxylation reactions use CO₂ as a renewable synthon and can incorporate renewable electricity as a driving force, the overall sustainability and practicality of this process is limited by the use of sacrificial anodes such as magnesium and aluminum. Replacing these anodes for the carboxylation of organic halides is not trivial because the cations produced from their oxidation inhibit a variety of undesired nucleophilic reactions that form esters, carbonates, and alcohols. Herein, a strategy to maintain selectivity without a sacrificial anode is developed by adding a salt with an inorganic cation that blocks nucleophilic reactions. Using anhydrous MgBr₂ as a low-cost, soluble source of Mg²⁺ cations, carboxylation of a variety of aliphatic,

SUBMITTER: Corbin N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8480422 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature