Roughness‐Dependent Electro‐Reductive Coupling of Nitrobenzenes and Aldehydes on Copper Electrodes

Abstract

The electro-reductive coupling of nitro and carbonyl compounds enables a facile, environmentally friendly and energy benign transformation toward value-added nitrones or imines, but the selectivity is still challenging. Here, the surface roughness of Cu electrodes is introduced for the first time as the determinant to switch products from nitrones to imines owing to the controllable reduction of nitroarenes to hydroxylamines or amines on tailored Cu I /Cu 0 interfaces. The roughnessdependent selectivity, that is the decrease of nitrones and the increase of imines with enhanced roughness, is visible in the electro-reductive coupling of nitrobenzene and furfural. Thus, the high selectivity of nitrone (98 %) and imine (80 %) can be achieved on a surface smooth Cu foil and the one electrochemically roughened in the presence of I À , respectively. Such roughness-dependence of nitrone/imine selectivity on Cu electrodes is further verified in a wide substrate scope, highlighting the promise of surface/interfacial engineering for electrochemical synthesis.

Synergistic enhancement of electrocatalytic nitroarene hydrogenation over Mo2C@MoS2 heteronanorods with dual active-sites

“…S23, ESI†), which together confirmed the nonnegligible contribution of 4-NS*. 16,43 The strengthened 4-NS* adsorption on Mo 2 C@MoS 2 was evidenced by the more significant increase in open-circuit potential (73.1 mV) after injecting 4-NS into the blank electrolyte (Fig. S24, ESI†), as compared with those observed on Mo 2 C (0.3 mV) and MoS 2 (26.5 mV).…”