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Updated: Mar 2, 2026

Light-driven Enzymatic Decarboxylation
Published on: May 22, 2016
Photoelectrochemical Catalysis toward Selective Anaerobic Oxidation of Alcohols
Ruikang Zhang1, Mingfei Shao1, Zhenhua Li1
1State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beisanhuan East Road No.15, Beijing, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Selective oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes plays an important role in perfumery, pharmaceuticals, and agrochemicals industry. Different from traditional catalysis or photocatalytic process, here we report an effective photoelectrochemical (PEC) approach for selective anaerobic oxidation of alcohols accompanied with H2 production by means of solar energy. By using TiO2 nanowires modified with graphitic carbon layer as photoanode, benzyl alcohol (BA) has been oxidized to benzaldehyde with high efficiency and selectivity (>99 %) in aqueous media at room temperature, superior to individual electrocatalytic or photocatalytic processes. Moreover, this PEC synthesis method can be effectively extended to the oxidation of several other aryl alcohols to their corresponding aldehydes under mild conditions. The electron spin resonance (ESR) results indicate the formation of intermediate active oxygen (O2.- ) on the photoanode, which further reacts with alcohols to produce final aldehyde compounds.
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