Synthesis of Benzoic Acids from Electrochemically Reduced CO Using Heterogeneous Catalysts.

A method for the synthesis of benzoic acids from aryl iodides using two of the most abundant and sustainable feedstocks, carbon dioxide (CO) and water, is disclosed. Central to this method is an effective and selective electrochemical reduction of CO (eCORR) to CO, which mitigates unwanted dehalogenation reactions occurring when H is produced via the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In a 3-compartment set-up, CO was reduced to CO electrochemically by using a surface-modified silver electrode in aqueous electrolyte.

Electrochemical Proton Reduction over Nickel Foam for Z-Stereoselective Semihydrogenation/deuteration of Functionalized Alkynes.

Selective reduction strategies based on abundant-metal catalysts are very important in the production of chemicals. In this paper, a method for the electrochemical semihydrogenation and semideuteration of alkynes to form Z-alkenes was developed, using a simple nickel foam as catalyst and H O or D O as sources of hydrogen or deuterium. Good yields and excellent stereoselectivities (Z/E up to 20 : 1) were obtained under very mild reaction conditions.

Probing the Evolution of Palladium Species in Pd@MOF Catalysts during the Heck Coupling Reaction: An Operando X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy Study.

The mechanism of the Heck C-C coupling reaction catalyzed by Pd@MOFs has been investigated using operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) combined with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis and nuclear magnetic resonance (H NMR) kinetic studies. A custom-made reaction cell was used, allowing operando PXRD and XAS data collection using high-energy synchrotron radiation. By analyzing the XAS data in combination with ex situ studies, the evolution of the palladium species is followed from the as-synthesized to its deactivated form.