Electrochemical Oxidation of Alcohols Using Halogen Mediators

The high importance of carbonyl compounds in organic synthesis and fine chemical industries has let the development of efficient and environmentally benign methods for the oxidation of alcohols be an important research field. Electrochemistry would be one of the ideal strategies to achieve green redox processes avoiding the use of chemical oxidants/reductants. Due to the relatively high oxidation potential of alcohols, indirect methods using redox mediators have often been employed for the electrochemical alcohol oxidation. Halide salts would be one of the most traditional but still common mediators owing to the advantage of wide commercial availability and cost-efficiency. This review summarized the electrogenerated active halogen-mediated transformations of prim- sec-, and tert-alcohols from the pioneering works to the recent examples. In addition, recent advances in the direct oxidation of alcohols are also presented.

Automated summary

The development of efficient and environmentally benign methods for the oxidation of alcohols is an important research field due to the high importance of carbonyl compounds in organic synthesis and fine chemical industries. Electrochemistry is an ideal strategy to achieve green redox processes without the use of chemical oxidants/reductants. This review summarizes the electrogenerated active halogen-mediated transformations of primary, secondary, and tertiary alcohols, as well as recent advances in the direct oxidation of alcohols.