Olefin functional group oxidation is a classic method for constructing tetrahydrofurans and their derivatives (THFs), but traditional routes rely on noble metal catalysts and oxygen-containing reagents such as epoxides and O₂, which suffer from high cost and safety hazards. Therefore, developing metal-free catalysts with safe and green water as the oxygen source may provide a unique strategy for activating olefin functional groups to construct tetrahydrofurans and their derivatives.
Recently, a research team led by Prof.Teck-Peng Loh from Nanyang Technological Universityand Henan University of Technology addressed this bottleneck by proposing a metal-free electro-driven strategy—using water as the sole oxygen source, without additional additives, to efficiently and highly selectively synthesize structurally diverse tetrahydrofuran derivatives under mild conditions, opening a new avenue for green synthesis. The results were published in Chinese Journal of Catalysis (DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(26)65178-9 ).
Theoretical calculations indicate that carbon materials possess the strongest adsorption capacity and oxidizability toward olefins, which facilitates the generation of olefin-derived radical cations and enhances the efficient and highly selective conversion of olefin compounds. Additionally, reactive oxygen species such as hydroxyl radicals (•OH) are generated in situ during anodic water splitting. Mechanistic studies suggest that the reaction may proceed via a radical coupling pathway between olefin radical cations and•OH, in which the generation of olefin radical cations is the rate-determining step. Experiments combined with density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirm that metal-free carbon materials significantly promote the formation of this key intermediate. This method features a broad substrate scope and good functional group tolerance, and has been successfully scaled up to the gram scale, demonstrating potential for practical synthetic applications.
About the Journal
Chinese Journal of Catalysis is co-sponsored by Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Chemical Society, and it is currently published by Elsevier group. This monthly journal publishes in English timely contributions of original and rigorously reviewed manuscripts covering all areas of catalysis. The journal publishes Reviews, Accounts, Communications, Articles, Highlights, Perspectives, and Viewpoints of highly scientific values that help understanding and defining of new concepts in both fundamental issues and practical applications of catalysis. Chinese Journal of Catalysis ranks among the top one journals in Applied Chemistry with a current SCI impact factor of 15.7. The Editors-in-Chief are Profs. Can Li and Tao Zhang.
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