Diphenyl Carbonate Synthesis by Homogeneous Pd Electrocatalyst

Electrochemical carbonylation of phenol with CO to diphenyl carbonate (DPC) using Pd electrocatalyst was studied at P(CO) = 1 atm and room temperature. Electrochemical carbonylation was conducted by galvanostatic electrolysis at 1 mA in electrolyte solutions containing phenol, sodium phenoxide and CH3CN. It was found that electrochemical carbonylation by Pd was promoted by using 1,3-dimesitylimidazol-2-ylidene (IMes) ligand of a N-heterocyclic carbene. The current efficiency of DPC increased more than 3.4 times using the IMes ligand. The maximum current efficiency of DPC formation was 45 %.