Current events break for chemical synthesis
15 Jan 2000
The saying goes that it's easier to destroy than to create, and that's certainly true of electrochemistry. Historically, electric current has found more uses as a tool to take molecules apart - as in the production of chlorine and caustic soda from brine - than in putting them together.
The problem with electrosynthesis has always been that the process makes two products, one at the cathode and one at the anode - and one of these is generally hydrogen. Uses for this gas are limited, and if it were produced in large volumes, it would be wasted.
Researchers at BASF have found a way of coupling two electrosynthetic processes so that the hydrogen produced from one reaction is used in another, producing two viable products in a single electrolysis cell. One product, aldehyde, generates hydrogen in its manufacture, while the other, phthalide, requires pure hydrogen.
