Concentrated Aqueous Peroxodicarbonate: Efficient Electrosyn- thesis and Use as Oxidizer in Epoxidations, S-, and N-Oxidations

Abstract

Peroxodicarbonates are of substantial interest as potentially powerful and sustainable oxidizers but have so far been accessible only in low concentrations with unsatisfactory energy efficiency. Concentrated (> 0.9 mol L−1) peroxodicarbonate solutions have now been made accessible by the electrolysis of aqueous K2CO3/Na2CO3/KHCO3 solutions at high current density of 3.33 A cm−2 in an efficiently cooled circular flow reactor equipped with a boron-doped diamond anode and a stainless-steel cathode. Their synthetic potential as platform oxidizers was clearly demonstrated in transformations including sulfoxidation, N-oxidation, and epoxidation.