This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Inspired by pumped-storage hydropower, a nickel-based redox reservoir enables spontaneous nitrile synthesis in organic solvents, while hydrogen gas is produced separately. Nitriles are important chemical building blocks used in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, dyes, electronic materials and polymers.
However, conventional routes for producing nitriles often require hazardous reagents or harsh reaction conditions, driving the search for cleaner and more controllable synthesis methods. One promising alternative is an electrochemical method that converts benzylamine into benzonitrile. This reaction can be paired with hydrogen production, enabling the simultaneous generation of a value-added chemical and hydrogen fuel.
When powered by renewable electricity, the approach could offer a more sustainable route to chemical manufacturing. There is, however, a chemical challenge. The conversion of benzylamine to benzonitrile is commonly carried out in strongly alkaline aqueous electrolytes to accelerate the reaction.
Under these conditions, benzylimine intermediates and the desired benzonitrile product can react with water and hydroxide ions, gradually forming unwanted products. The problem becomes increasingly serious at higher benzylamine concentrations, making it difficult to translate promising results from dilute laboratory solutions to more practical conditions. A research team led by Professor Chih-Jung Chen at National Taiwan University Graduate School of Advanced Technology has developed a way around this limitation by separating nitrile synthesis from hydrogen production.
Their study, published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, uses a NiOOH/Ni(OH)₂ electrode as a rechargeable redox reservoir that temporarily stores and releases oxidizing power. The concept resembles pumped-storage hydropower. Water can be stored at a higher elevation and released later when energy is needed.
In a similar way, the nickel-based reservoir stores oxidative capacity in NiOOH and releases it later to drive chemical conversion. When NiOOH is placed in a benzylamine solution, it spontaneously transforms benzylamine into benzonitrile under open-circuit conditions, without an externally applied electrical bias, while NiOOH itself is reduced to Ni(OH)₂. The reduced reservoir can then be electrochemically recharged to NiOOH, while hydrogen gas is generated at the cathode.
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