Electrocatalytic water-splitting for the controllable and sustainable synthesis of deuterated chemicals

Bing Zhang; Chuntian Qiu; Shan Wang; Hua Gao; Kunyi Yu; Zhaofei Zhang; Xiang Ling; Wei Ou; Chenliang Su

doi:10.1016/j.scib.2020.09.016

Electrocatalytic water-splitting for the controllable and sustainable synthesis of deuterated chemicals

Sci Bull (Beijing). 2021 Mar 30;66(6):562-569. doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2020.09.016. Epub 2020 Sep 12.

Authors

Bing Zhang¹, Chuntian Qiu¹, Shan Wang², Hua Gao³, Kunyi Yu⁴, Zhaofei Zhang¹, Xiang Ling¹, Wei Ou¹, Chenliang Su⁵

Affiliations

¹ International Collaborative Laboratory of 2D Materials for Optoelectronics Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, Institute of Microscale Optoelectronics, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
² College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
³ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
⁵ International Collaborative Laboratory of 2D Materials for Optoelectronics Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, Institute of Microscale Optoelectronics, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China. Electronic address: chmsuc@szu.edu.cn.

PMID: 36654426
DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2020.09.016

Abstract

Tandem water electrolysis for the transformation of universal feedstock to value-added chemicals integrated with hydrogen generation and in situ utilization is a promising approach to address the economic challenges of electrochemical hydrogen evolution and storage. Herein, we present the controllable electrocatalytic deuteration of halides using inexpensive and reusable heavy water (D₂O) as a D-source for the preparation of valuable D-labelled chemicals and pharmaceuticals under mild conditions. This electrochemical deuteration method with high efficiency and selectivity furnishes a series of D-labelled chemicals and pharmaceuticals in high yields with excellent D-incorporation. The reaction efficiency and selectivity, that is, the precise substitution of deuterium atoms at different halogen positions, can be tuned by varying the applied voltages. The results show the great potential of green and economical electrocatalytic methods for producing value-added fine chemicals in addition to hydrogen evolution.

Keywords: Deuterium labelling; Electrocatalysis; Green chemistry; Selective deuteration; Water splitting.