Qiu Jingjing, Forbes Tucker, Lin Timothy
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California 94132, USA.
Chem Commun (Camb). 2025 Feb 20;61(17):3421-3435. doi: 10.1039/d4cc04822a.
The electrochemical oxidation of alcohol molecules has gained significance as a key anode reaction, offering an alternative to the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) for hydrogen (H) production and carbon dioxide (CO) reduction. The (photo)electrochemical oxidation of benzyl alcohol and its derivatives serves as an important model system, not only because benzyl alcohol oxidation is a critical industrial process, but also because it offers valuable insights into electrocatalytic biomass conversion. Tailoring this reaction through electrochemical and photoelectrochemical methods using heterogeneous noble and transition metal electrocatalysts presents a green approach and the potential for uncovering new reaction mechanisms. This review article positions the electrochemical oxidation of benzyl alcohol as an alternative to the OER to produce H, highlighting recent mechanistic studies involving noble and transition metal electrocatalysts. Furthermore, we discuss the electronic substituent effects on this reaction, which have been well-explored in organic oxidation pathways but remain underexplored in (photo)electrocatalytic contexts.
醇分子的电化学氧化作为关键的阳极反应已变得至关重要，为制氢和二氧化碳还原中的析氧反应（OER）提供了一种替代方案。苯甲醇及其衍生物的（光）电化学氧化是一个重要的模型体系，这不仅是因为苯甲醇氧化是一个关键的工业过程，还因为它为电催化生物质转化提供了有价值的见解。通过使用多相贵金属和过渡金属电催化剂的电化学和光电化学方法来调控该反应，是一种绿色方法，并且有揭示新反应机理的潜力。这篇综述文章将苯甲醇的电化学氧化定位为替代OER制氢的方法，重点介绍了最近涉及贵金属和过渡金属电催化剂的机理研究。此外，我们还讨论了电子取代基对该反应的影响，这在有机氧化途径中已得到充分研究，但在（光）电催化环境中仍未得到充分探索。
