A study of Electrochemical Olefin Epoxidation
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진경석 교수 고려대학교 Over several decades, electrochemistry has played an imperative role in synthetic chemistry. Starting from the Kolbe reaction, developed in 1848, a lot of effort has been devoted to synthesizing target products with the use of electrochemistry. However, although electrochemical organic synthesis can be driven with environmentally-friendly sources of electricity, only a small number of commodity chemicals have been produced via electrochemical reactions; namely, anthraquinone, some perfluorinated hydrocarbons (PFCs), and adiponitrile, a key intermediate for the polymer Nylon 6,6. Most research into these synthetic approaches is just at the laboratory or pilot scale. The fact that such minimal attention has been paid to the commercialization of these methods has been attributed to high energy costs due to the required large overpotential values and poor selectivity toward desired products. In this regard, we should focus on addressing challenging electro-organic synthesis problems through engineering efficient catalysts and gaining a deeper understanding of reaction mechanisms on those catalysts. In this talk, I will present our recent studies about electrochemical olefin epoxidation by using manganese oxide nanocatalysts. Epoxides are useful intermediates for the manufacture of a diverse set of chemical products. Current routes of olefin epoxidation either involve hazardous reagents or generate stoichiometric side products, leading to challenges in separation and significant waste streams. Recently we demonstrated a sustainable and safe route to epoxidize olefin substrates using water as the oxygen atom source at room temperature and ambient pressure. Electrokinetic studies provided insights into the mechanism of olefin epoxidation, including an approximate first-order dependence on the substrate and water and a rate-determining step that involves the first electron transfer. |