Highly Efficient Electrosynthesis of Glycine over an Atomically Dispersed Iron Catalyst

Abstract

Glycine is a nonessential amino acid that plays a vital role in various biological activities. However, the conventional synthesis of glycine requires sophisticated procedures or toxic feedstocks. Herein, we report an electrochemical pathway for glycine synthesis via the reductive coupling of oxalic acid and nitrate or nitrogen oxides over atomically dispersed Fe−N−C catalysts. A glycine selectivity of 70.7% is achieved over Fe−N−C-700 at −1.0 V versus RHE. Synergy between the FeN 3 C structure and pyrrolic nitrogen in Fe−N−C-700 facilitates the reduction of oxalic acid to glyoxylic acid, which is crucial for producing glyoxylic acid oxime and glycine, and the FeN 3 C structure could reduce the energy barrier of *HOOCCH 2 NH 2 intermediate formation thus accelerating the glyoxylic acid oxime conversion to glycine. This new synthesis approach for value-added chemicals using simple carbon and nitrogen sources could provide sustainable routes for organonitrogen compound production.

Efficient electrochemical coupling of nitrate and biomass-derived acetone to acetoxime at a high current density over a Zn/Cu hexagonal nanosheet catalyst

“…64 Upon the introduction of CH 3 COCH 3 into the system, the *NH 2 OH signal significantly weakened (Fig. S37 and S38†), accompanied by the appearance of signals located at 1683 cm −1 of the CN bond, 40,53,65 1027 cm −1 for the N–O stretching of CN–OH, 41 and 1227 cm −1 attributed to the C–C–C asymmetric stretch peak of adsorbed *CH 3 COCH 3 66,67 (Fig. 7b).…”

“…32,33 Among the compounds, organonitrogen compounds driven by renewable energy have attracted widespread attention due to their significant academic research and economic application value. 34–42 Currently, the top 200 pharmaceuticals and the top ten agricultural chemicals globally are organonitrogen compounds. 43 Since Jiao successfully constructed acetamide from CO and NH 3 using an electrocatalytic method over Cu-based catalysts, 44 the green synthesis of organonitrogen compounds using readily available carbon/nitrogen-containing small molecules under mild conditions has become an emerging field.…”