Industrial Electrocatalytic Oxidation - The Future of «Green Chemistry»

Abstract

From the point of view of "green chemistry", the relevance and prospects of the electrooxidation of organic compounds is confirmed by numerous scientific data on the practical use of methods developed and introduced into production for obtaining demanded chemical and pharmaceutical preparations. The advantages of electrochemical methods for converting organic substrates into products of low-tonnage chemical industry and pharmaceutical chemistry are shown. The reactions of electrooxidation of alcohol groups of synthetic and natural compounds, mediated by catalytic systems based on inexpensive TEMPO-like nitroxyl radicals, which provide numerous key synthetic advantages over other oxidation methods, are considered. It has been shown that oxidation reactions can be carried out under mild conditions, without the use of environmentally harmful reagents and toxic solvents, without large economic investments and with the maximum yield of high-purity target products with the formation of little or no waste. Further fundamental and technological research is recommended in order to develop effective electrocatalytic systems for use in industrial electrooxidation.