Uranyl-Photocatalyzed Hydrolysis of Diaryl Ethers at Ambient Environment for the Directional Degradation of 4-O-5 Lignin

Uranyl-photocatalyzed hydrolysis of diaryl ethers has been established to achieve two types of phenols at room temperature under normal pressure. The single electron transfer process was disclosed by a radical quenching experiment and Stern-Volmer analysis between diphenyl ether and uranyl cation catalyst, followed by oxygen atom transfer process between radical cation of diphenyl ether and uranyl peroxide species. The O-18-labeling experiment precisely demonstrates that the oxygen source is water. Further application in template substrates of 4-O-5 linkages from lignin and 30-fold efficiency of flow operation display the potential application for phenol recovery via an ecofriendly and low-energy consumption protocol.

Automated summary

The uranyl-photocatalyzed hydrolysis of diaryl ethers has been shown to produce two types of phenols at room temperature under normal pressure. The process involves a single electron transfer followed by an oxygen atom transfer process. The use of O-18 labeling has confirmed water as the oxygen source, and the method shows potential for ecofriendly phenol recovery.