The preparation of high-value-added aromatic carboxylic acids via CO2
carboxylation coupling through activation of the benzyl C-H bond in alcohols / amines is a green and sustainable pathway to achieve CO2
resource utilization and contribute to
carbon neutrality. However, this field currently faces challenges such as poor
catalyst selectivity, low CO2 activation efficiency, and a narrow substrate applicability range, making it difficult to meet practical application needs. To address this issue, this patent discovers that in a heterogeneous electrocatalytic
system, cuprous
selenide (V2), rich in
selenium vacancies, can be used... Se -Cu 2‑x Using Se as the core catalyst, it can not only efficiently promote the synergistic activation of benzyl C-H bonds and CO2
carboxylation, significantly improving the overall catalytic activity of the reaction, but also achieve precise chemoselective
carboxylation control for different types of substrates. Specifically, this V Se -Cu 2‑x Se electrocatalysts can efficiently and selectively activate the benzyl C-H bond in alcohols and subsequently induce CO2 carboxylation, exhibiting excellent
chemoselectivity in the conversion of
benzyl alcohol to
mandelic acid and its derivatives. Simultaneously, they also demonstrate excellent catalytic performance for amines, selectively catalyzing the carboxylation of amine substrates such as
benzylamine with CO2 to directionally generate phenylglycine and
aromatic amine-derived carboxylates. Crucially, in addition to typical
benzyl alcohol and
benzylamine, the substrate applicability of this catalytic
system can be extended to various alcohols and
amine derivatives, realizing the carboxylation transformation from simple model substrates to diverse functional molecules, providing a new approach for the large-scale preparation of high-value-added aromatic carboxylates.