Hydrodehalogenation of 2,4-dibromophenol by electrochemical reduction

摘要

The electrochemical hydrodehalogenation (HDH) of 2,4-dibromophenol (DBP) has been carried out by electrochemical reduction in H-cells and solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) cells using catalysed cathodes. The electrochemical process gave high conversions of up to 95%, high selectivities of up to 98%, high current efficiencies of up to 98.5% and energy consumption as low as 2.2 kW h (kg DBP)−1. The type of the catalyst plays a decisive role in the efficiency of the HDH of DBP, with palladium being an attractive material. The effect of current density, DBP concentration, supporting electrolyte and temperature, on the HDH is reported.