Investigation of the electrocatalytic reaction for the oxidation of alcohols through the formation of a metal organic framework (Mn-MIL-100)/polymer matrix on the surface of an Au electrode

Abstract

An electrode composite containing a metal organic framework (Mn-MIL-100) was prepared by linkers including gold nanoparticles/polypyrrole and cysteine. The electrocatalytic application of this nanocomposite was evaluated via the oxidation of benzylic and aliphatic alcohols under open air conditions. Various active and inactive alcohol derivatives were successfully converted to the corresponding ketones with excellent yields. This advanced electrocatalyst proved to have remarkable stability over several recovery cycles from the reaction medium without significant change in its activity and selectivity and its regeneration potential. The active surface area of this electrocatalyst is very large due to its structural features, arising from the introduction of a metal organic framework (Mn-MIL-100) on a gold electrode, which provides more accessible surface sites, therefore boosting the electrocatalytic activity. The structure of the synthesized electrocatalyst has been characterized by FESEM, EDX, and AFM techniques.