A Highly Efficient Electrosynthesis of Formaldehyde Using a TEMPO‐Based Polymer Electrocatalyst

In the chemical industry, formaldehyde is an important bulk chemical. The traditional synthesis of formaldehyde involves an energy intensive oxidation of methanol over a metal oxide catalyst. The selective electrochemical oxidation of methanol is challenging. Herein, we report a catalytic system wit...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:ChemSusChem 2024-11, Vol.17 (21), p.e202400582-n/a
Main Authors: Broersen, P. J. L., Koning, J. J. N., Rothenberg, G., Garcia, A. C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aliphatic alcohols
Carbonyls
Catalysts
Chemical synthesis
Electrocatalysts
Electrochemical oxidation
Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde electrosynthesis
Metal oxides
Methanol
Methanol oxidation
TEMPO-modified electrode
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In the chemical industry, formaldehyde is an important bulk chemical. The traditional synthesis of formaldehyde involves an energy intensive oxidation of methanol over a metal oxide catalyst. The selective electrochemical oxidation of methanol is challenging. Herein, we report a catalytic system with an immobilized TEMPO electrode that selectively oxidizes methanol to formaldehyde with high turnover numbers. Upon the addition of various organic and inorganic bases, the activity of the catalyst could be tuned. The highest Faradaic efficiency that was achieved was 97.5 %, the highest turnover number was 17100. Additionally, we found that the rate determining step changed from the step in which the carbonyl specie is created from the methanol‐TEMPO adduct to the oxidative regeneration of the TEMPO+ species. Finally, we showed that the system could be applied to the oxidation of other aliphatic alcohols. This article reports the selective electrooxidation of methanol to formaldehyde.
ISSN:1864-5631
1864-564X
1864-564X
DOI:10.1002/cssc.202400582