Electrocatalytic Reduction of (Hetero)Aryl Halides in a Proton‐Exchange Membrane Reactor and its Application for Deuteration

Abstract

Abstract We developed an electrocatalytic reduction of (hetero)aryl halides under mild conditions using a proton exchange membrane (PEM) reactor. This approach allows substituting the halogeno groups on the aryl rings to protons by water and electron. Taking advantage of this transformation, deuterodehalogenation of (hetero)aryl halides, which forms mono‐deuterated (hetero)aryls, was demonstrated using heavy water as a deuterium source. The current efficiency and deuterium ratio could be increased by the conditions optimized by machine‐learning method, Bayesian optimization.

Keywords

• electrocatalytic reduction
• hydrodehalogenation
• PEM reactor
• deuteration
• Bayesian optimization