Influence of the Nature of Boron-Doped Diamond Anodes on the Dehydrogenative Phenol-Phenol Cross-Coupling

Boron-doped diamond (BDD) represents a powerful and innovative electrode material. In particular, in combination with fluorinated solvents such as 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP), the system exhibits the largest known electrochemical window of approximately 5V in protic media. Furthermore, the anodic treatment allows the direct formation of oxyl radicals, which are known to exhibit specific reactivity. The electrochemical dehydrogenative phenol-phenol cross-coupling is a versatile and useful transformation to non-symmetric biphenols. This electro-organic conversion can be divided into two regimes: initial oxidation at the anode and the electrolyte-controlled follow-up reaction. This work intends to provide an answer about the influence of BDD electrodes on oxidation reactions in electrosynthesis. Depending on the electro-organic transformation, the support material of BDD, its boron content, and its fabrication method have a significant influence on the electrosynthetic efficiency.