Photoelectrochemical Tandem Chlorination of sp<sup>3</sup> C–H Bond in Seawater/Chloroform Two-Phase Electrolyte System by Ti-Doped Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Photoanode
C-H bond activation is a fundamental challenge in organic synthesis, and various routes have been explored. Among them, halogenation has played an important role in producing valuable intermediates. We report a novel photoelectrochemical (PEC) tandem C-H chlorination using a Ti-doped Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> (Ti:Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>) photoanode in a two-phase electrolyte system consisting of natural seawater and a chloroform organic phase. This system enables the <i>in situ</i> generation of Cl<sub>2</sub> via the chlorine evolution reaction (CER) with near 100% Faradaic efficiency (FE) while suppressing the competing oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The generated Cl<sub>2</sub> undergoes photolytic cleavage, forming chlorine radicals that selectively chlorinate sp<sup>3</sup> C-H bonds in toluene, cyclohexane, and ethylbenzene with 100% regioselectivity. This work demonstrates the feasibility of seawater-based PEC halogenation and provides a sustainable strategy for selective C-H functionalization in organic synthesis.
Authors
- Eun Duck Park (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5959-1982)
- Adeel Mehmood (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0440-4347)
- Sang Youn Chae (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6936-2224)
Institutions
- Ajou University (KR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of the American Chemical Society
- Published
- 2025-05-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c05100
- Citations
- 18
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 6.54
Funders
- National Research Foundation of Korea