Field Effect Modulation of Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution at Back-Gated Two-Dimensional MoS2 Electrodes

Electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution at monolayer MoS2 electrodes can be enhanced by the application of an electric field normal to the electrode plane. The electric field is produced by a gate electrode lying underneath the MoS2 and separated from it by a dielectric. Application of a voltage to the back-side gate electrode while sweeping the MoS2 electrochemical potential in a conventional manner in 0.5 M H2SO4 results in up to a 140-mV reduction in overpotential for hydrogen evolution at current densities of 50 mA/cm2. Tafel analysis indicates that the exchange current density is correspondingly improved by a factor of 4 to 0.1 mA/cm2 as gate voltage is increased. Density functional theory calculations support a mechanism in which the higher hydrogen evolution activity is caused by gate-induced electronic charge on Mo metal centers adjacent the S vacancies (the active sites), leading to enhanced Mo-H bond strengths. Overall, our findings indicate that the back-gated working electrode architecture is a convenient and versatile platform for investigating the connection between tunable electronic charge at active sites and overpotential for electrocatalytic processes on ultrathin electrode materials.</div

Electrochemical cobalt-catalyzed selective carboxylation of benzyl halides with CO2 enabled by low-coordinate cobalt electrocatalysts

The direct, transition metal-catalyzed carboxylation of organohalides with carbon dioxide is a highly desirable transformation in organic synthesis as it utilizes feedstock chemicals and delivers carboxylic acids –among the most utilized class of organic molecules. Phenyl acetic acids, in particular, are privileged motifs that appear in many pharmaceuticals and biologically active compounds. This article reports the development of a sustainable and selective cobalt-catalyzed electrochemical carboxylation of benzyl halides with CO2 to generate phenyl acetic acids. The success of this transformation is enabled by the development of low-coordinate cobalt/pyrox complexes as electrocatalysts to convert various benzyl chlorides and bromides to their corre-sponding phenyl/heteroaryl acetic acids with high selectivity over undesired homocoupling of the benzyl halides. The combina-tion of electroanalytical methods, simulation studies, control reactions, and first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations informed the mechanistic analysis of this reaction. An EC’C-type activation mechanism of benzyl halides, which is unique to Co(II)/pyrox electrocatalysts, provides the rationalization of the exceptional observed selectivity for carboxylation. Specifically, the Co(II)/pyrox catalyst undergoes reduction to Co(I) followed by halogen abstraction and a favorable radical rebound to Co(II)/pyrox to form alkyl–Co(III) intermediates. Although voltammetry only shows a single electron transfer step, bulk electrolysis shows a two electron process and using DFT calculations, the intermediates are proposed to undergo two-electron reduction to alkyl–Co(I) followed by a ZnCl2-assisted CO2 insertion to form the carboxylated adducts with regenera-tion of Co(I)/pyrox

N-Ammonium Ylide Mediators for Selective Electrochemical C–H Oxidation

The site-specific oxidation of strong C(sp3)-H bonds is of uncontested utility in organicsynthesis. From simplifying access to metabolites and late-stage diversification of lead compoundsto truncating retrosynthetic plans, there is a growing need for new reagents and methods forachieving such a transformation in both academic and industrial circles. One main drawback ofcurrent chemical reagents is the lack of diversity with regards to structure and reactivity thatprevent a combinatorial approach for rapid screening to be employed. In that regard, directedevolution still holds the greatest promise for achieving complex C–H oxidations in a variety ofcomplex settings. Herein we present a rationally designed platform that provides a step towardsthis challenge using N-ammonium ylides as electrochemically driven oxidants for site-specific,chemoselective C(sp3)–H oxidation. By taking a first-principles approach guided by computation,these new mediators were identified and rapidly expanded into a library using ubiquitous buildingblocks and trivial synthesis techniques. The ylide-based approach to C–H oxidation exhibitstunable selectivity that is often exclusive to this class of oxidants and can be applied to real worldproblems in the agricultural and pharmaceutical sectors.</p