AI Article Synopsis

  • Birch reduction is a method for hydrogenating aromatic hydrocarbons like benzene using electrons from alkali metals in liquid ammonia.
  • Researchers have characterized key intermediates in this process, such as solvated electrons and benzene radical anions, using techniques like cyclic voltammetry and photoelectron spectroscopy.
  • This study highlights the electron binding energies crucial to the reaction mechanism and demonstrates how two different experimental methods can be connected through the Birch reduction.

Article Abstract

Birch reduction is a time-proven way to hydrogenate aromatic hydrocarbons (such as benzene), which relies on the reducing power of electrons released from alkali metals into liquid ammonia. We have succeeded to characterize the key intermediates of the Birch reduction process─the solvated electron and dielectron and the benzene radical anion─using cyclic voltammetry and photoelectron spectroscopy, aided by electronic structure calculations. In this way, we not only quantify the electron binding energies of these species, which are decisive for the mechanism of the reaction, but also use Birch reduction as a case study to directly connect the two seemingly unrelated experimental techniques.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jacs.2c09478DOI Listing

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