Department of Organic and Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Sarriena auzoa, z/g., 48940, Leioa, Spain.
ChemSusChem. 2022 Sep 7;15(17):e202200940. doi: 10.1002/cssc.202200940. Epub 2022 Jul 12.
Every year, thousands of tons of polystyrene are produced and discarded, filling landfills and polluting the marine environment. Although several degradation alternatives have been proposed, the need for an effective procedure for the chemical recycling of polystyrene still remains. Here, a vanadium-catalyzed reaction, assisted by visible light, promoted the direct, selective conversion of tertiary alkylbenzenes into acetophenone and other ketone derivatives. Likewise, standard polystyrene samples as well as polystyrenes from insulation and packaging waste could be chemically recycled into acetophenone in a scalable way regardless of their molecular weight, polydispersity, or form. Preliminary mechanistic investigations revealed the participation of singlet oxygen, superoxide, and hydroxyl radical species in this homogenously catalyzed process. Acetophenone could be used as an additive to accelerate the reaction and to increase the yields in some cases.
每年都有数千吨的聚苯乙烯被生产和丢弃，这些废弃物充斥着垃圾填埋场并污染着海洋环境。尽管已经提出了几种降解替代方案，但仍然需要一种有效的聚苯乙烯化学回收方法。在这里，可见光辅助的钒催化反应促进了叔烷基苯的直接、选择性转化为苯乙酮和其他酮衍生物。同样，标准的聚苯乙烯样品以及来自绝缘和包装废物的聚苯乙烯可以以规模化的方式化学循环转化为苯乙酮，而与它们的分子量、多分散性或形式无关。初步的机理研究表明，单线态氧、超氧自由基和羟基自由基物种参与了这个均相催化过程。在某些情况下，苯乙酮可以用作添加剂来加速反应并提高产率。
