Electrooxidation of alcohols in an N-oxyl-immobilized poly(ethylene-co-acrylic acid)/water disperse system

The electrooxidation of alcohols in a disperse system with N-oxyl-immobilized polymer particles (PE-co-AA-N-Oxyl), prepared from poly(ethylene-co-acrylic acid) (PE-co-AA-Co2H), as a disperse phase and an aqueous saturated NaHCO3 containing 20 wt % NaBr as a disperse medium was successfully performed in a simple beaker-type undivided cell under constant-current conditions. The electrooxidation of alcohols proceeded in a similar manner by the use of PEco-AA-CO2H as a disperse phase, though the current efficiency decreased in some extent. Protection of most of the carboxylic acid moieties on the surface of PE-co-AA-CO2H by esterification or amidation resulted in significant decrease of the product yields, suggesting that the carboxylic acid moieties on the surface of PE-co-AA-CO2H would also act as a mediator for the electrooxidation of alcohols. Both the recovered PE-co-AA-N-Oxyl and the aqueous solution were used repeatedly for the electrooxidation of alcohols, thereby offering a formally closed system for the electrooxidation of alcohols.