Electrocatalytic hydrogenation of conjugated enones on nickel boride, nickel, and Raney nickel electrodes

Abstract

The selectivity of the electrocatalytic hydrogenation (ECH) of conjugated enones to the corresponding carbonyl compounds has been investigated in aqueous methanol under constant current at nickel boride, fractal nickel, and Raney nickel electrodes made of pressed powders. The influence of various parameters (water percentage, pH, concentration of substrate, and current density) on the selectivity of the carbon–carbon double bond hydrogenation was studied with cyclohex-2-en-1-one at nickel boride electrodes. Under given electrolysis conditions, fractal nickel electrodes were found to give the highest selectivity. The selectivity of the ECH of a variety of conjugated enones at fractal nickel electrodes was determined under electrolysis conditions that gave the best selectivity with cyclohexenone at nickel boride electrodes. Keywords: electrocatalytic hydrogenation, α,β-unsaturated ketones, selective hydrogenation, nickel based cathodes.