Electrochemical activation of C-H by electron-deficient WC nanocrystals for simultaneous alkoxylation and hydrogen evolution.

The activation of C-H bonds is a central challenge in organic chemistry and usually a key step for the retro-synthesis of functional natural products due to the high chemical stability of C-H bonds. Electrochemical methods are a powerful alternative for C-H activation, but this approach usually requires high overpotential and homogeneous mediators. Here, we design electron-deficient WC nanocrystal-based electrodes to boost the heterogeneous activation of C-H bonds under mild conditions via an additive-free, purely heterogeneous electrocatalytic strategy. The electron density of WC nanocrystals is tuned by constructing Schottky heterojunctions with nitrogen-doped carbon support to facilitate the preadsorption and activation of benzylic C-H bonds of ethylbenzene on the WC surface, enabling a high turnover frequency (18.8 h) at a comparably low work potential (2 V versus SCE). The pronounced electron deficiency of the WC nanocatalysts substantially facilitates the direct deprotonation process to ensure electrode durability without self-oxidation. The efficient oxidation process also boosts the balancing hydrogen production from as-formed protons on the cathode by a factor of 10 compared to an inert reference electrode. The whole process meets the requirements of atomic economy and electric energy utilization in terms of sustainable chemical synthesis.