Directing the Electrochemical C─N Coupling Toward Efficient Amide Synthesis via Ammonia Activation‐Mediated Pathway
Electrochemically oxidative C─N coupling using alcohol and ammonia as feedstocks offers a sustainable alternative for the chemosynthesis of amide organonitrogens. The achievements of high activity and selectivity yet remains challenging via the conventional alcohol oxidation pathway. Here, we present an alternative ammonia-activation mediated pathway to favor the electrochemical C─N coupling necessary. Spectroscopic and theoretical investigations untangle that this manipulated process begins with the oxidation of ammonia to endow active *NH<sub>2</sub> species, which then efficiently couple with alcohol species to form C─N bonds. This alternative C─N coupling pathway exhibits accelerated kinetics and, more importantly, bypasses the formation of aldehyde intermediate, thereby preventing unfavorable overoxidation. As a result, this pathway achieves a high Faradaic efficiency of 50.1% and a carbon selectivity of 87.6% for efficient formamide electrosynthesis over a NiCuRu-based (oxy)hydroxide catalyst, with a productivity of 557.2 µmol cm<sup>-2</sup> h<sup>-1</sup>. Such electrosynthetic approach further exhibit the universality of waste biomass/plastics-driven carbon feedstocks, achieving considerable Faradaic efficiencies of 32%-60%. Techno-economic analysis confirms the potential profitability of using renewable electricity input, highlighting the significant advantages of green chemical manufacturing for sustainable development.
Authors
- Yuan Zhong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3187-8524)
- Hengjie Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6499-3935)
- Lidan Xiong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8534-4408)
- Guiping Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4800-2414)
- Ning Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0755-1708)
- Lejuan Cai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1604-0344)
- Yujie Xiong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1995-8257)
- Junchi Xu
- Zhenzhong Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9884-0053)
- Jiawei Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9069-7002)
Institutions
- Suzhou University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory (CN)
- Suzhou Research Institute (CN)
- National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (CN)
- Anhui Normal University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Published
- 2025-10-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202518108
- Primary Topic
- Sulfur-Based Synthesis Techniques
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00