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 5 V 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.