Synthesis and Application of Functional Nanostructured Materials in Electro/photoelectrocatalysis under Continuous Flow Conditions: A New Perspective for Synthesis and Functionalization of Heterocyclic System.

Abstract

Driven by economic and environmental factors, the guideline of this project is based on the growing interest of the fine-chemical industry for efficient and environmentally friendly processes of organic synthesis. The concept of green chemistry appears to meet this demand and, in this area, the electrosynthesis has been highlighted. This method has some advantages compared to the conventional systems; perhaps, the greatest of them is the replacement of oxidizing and reducing reagents (in most cases, they are toxic, dangerous for transportation and storage, as well as, generate high quantity of waste) by the use of electric current. Furthermore, this alternative synthetic methodology allows in situ generation of unstable reagents under mild conditions, and the precise control of the oxidation/reduction potential provides the development of highly selective processes. In the last years, the application of the continuous flow technology in organic synthesis has attracted attention of the academic community, more precisely, because it makes the use of dangerous reagents and conditions safer and has easy scaling of the automation processes. In other hand, the association between continuous microflow and electrosynthesis, hitherto, has been little reported in the literature, but already has great emphasis in terms of sustainability (there is no need of support electrolyte) and selectivity (reduction and oxidation excesses can be avoided). Thus, this project aims to develop electro/photoelectrocatalytic processes, in batch or under continuous microflow condition, for the trifluoromethylation reaction of electro-rich aromatic systems, using the concept of Late Stage functionalization via C-H activation. In a second step, we intend to perform stereoselective synthesis of nitrogenated systems, by combining anodic oxidation and organocatalyzed reaction. In addition to the abovementioned transformations, this proposal presents other perspectives, especially in the generation of radical species by electrooxidation of carboxylic compounds, and subsequent trapping, toward the synthesis of heterocyclic systems. For these purposes, new nanostructured electrodic materials (for the manufacture of the electrodes) should be properly synthesized and characterized. It is important to point out that the association of organic electrosynthesis with continuous microflow systems, electro/photoelectrochemical catalysis and asymmetric synthesis is quite innovative in the national and world scenario, which further encourages the implementation of a multidisciplinary research group with this theme.