Scalable and safe synthetic organic electroreduction inspired by Li-ion battery chemistry

Reductive electrosynthesis has faced long-standing challenges in applications to complex organic substrates at scale. Here, we show how decades of research in lithium-ion battery materials, electrolytes, and additives can serve as an inspiration for achieving practically scalable reductive electrosynthetic conditions for the Birch reduction. Specifically, we demonstrate that using a sacrificial anode material (magnesium or aluminum), combined with a cheap, nontoxic, and water-soluble proton source (dimethylurea), and an overcharge protectant inspired by battery technology [tris(pyrrolidino)phosphoramide] can allow for multigram-scale synthesis of pharmaceutically relevant building blocks. We show how these…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: GRFP 2017237151, CCI Phase 1 1740656
• SF
  Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas

  Award: VR 2017-00362
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Award: PA-18-586