Get into flow: Design of experiments as a key technique in the optimization of anodic dehydrogenative C,C cross-coupling reaction of phenols in flow electrolyzers

The optimization of electro-organic reactions poses a challenge due to the various parameters involved. Quite often those parameters are not independent from each other, leading the experimental scientist using linear approaches into an optimization loophole. We report a strategy for the optimization of the anodic oxidative dehydrogenative C,C cross-coupling reactions for the synthesis of biphenols based on Design of Experiments (DoE), which overcomes the drawbacks of linear optimization approaches. Using a fractional design, we increased the yield of a long-time investigated example reaction from 44% up to 85% and point out different suitable reaction conditions through to linear regression of the parameter space investigated. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study presents a new strategy for optimizing electro-organic reactions using Design of Experiments (DoE), successfully increasing the yield of an example reaction to 85% and identifying various suitable reaction conditions through linear regression analysis.