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The electrochemical reaction of carbon dioxide (CO2) in aqueous electrolyte solutions is attracting increasing attention for sustainable chemical production. Boron‐doped diamond (BDD) electrodes have been previously shown to be very effective for the stable electrochemical production of formic acid from CO2. Typically, the electrochemical production of formic acid by CO2 reduction (CO2R) reaction is performed with a dual‐compartment flow reactor equipped with a membrane separator. The problems caused by the membrane separator, such as scaling‐up, complicated operational control and materials costs can be solved using a membrane free single‐compartment reactor. Here we demonstrate anode reaction control for a single‐compartment CO2R flow reactor using a surface‐activated BDD cathode and achieve a Faradaic efficiency for formic acid production of over 70 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was conducted on the binding mechanism of fluoroalkene tripeptide analogs as inhibitors of the zinc peptidase thermolysin. Tripeptide analogs of the form Cbz-Gly(psi)[(Z)-CF=CH]LeuXaa(1,Xaa = Gly,Ala,Leu,Phe and NH2) were synthesized. Ki values were highly correlated with Km values, suggesting that the inhibitors bind as ground state analogs. The results are believed to be the first direct assessment of the fluoroalkene unit as a peptide surrogate.

The electrochemical reaction of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in aqueous electrolyte solutions is attracting increasing attention for sustainable chemical production. Boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes have been previously shown to be very effective for the stable electrochemical production of formic acid from CO 2 . Typically, the electrochemical production of formic acid by CO 2 reduction (CO 2 R) reaction is performed with a dual-compartment flow reactor equipped with a membrane separator. The problems caused by the membrane separator, such as scaling-up, complicated operational control and materials costs can be solved using a membrane free single-compartment reactor. Here we demonstrate anode reaction control for a single-compartment CO 2 R flow reactor using a surface-activated BDD cathode and achieve a Faradaic efficiency for formic acid production of over 70 %., (© 2023 The Authors. Chemistry - A European Journal published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

By means of an initial electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (eCO 2 RR), both the reaction current and Faradaic efficiency of the eCO 2 RR on boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes were significantly improved. Here, this effect is referred to as the self-activation of BDD. Generally, the generation of carbon dioxide radical anions (CO 2 •- ) is the most recognized pathway leading to the formation of hydrocarbons and oxygenated products. However, the self-activation process enabled the eCO 2 RR to take place at a low potential, that is, a low energy, where CO 2 •- is hardly produced. In this work, we found that unidentate carbonate and carboxylic groups were identified as intermediates during self-activation. Increasing the amount of these intermediates via the self-activation process enhances the performance of eCO 2 RR. We further evaluated this effect in long-term experiments using a CO 2 electrolyzer for formic acid production and found that the electrical-to-chemical energy conversion efficiency reached 50.2% after the BDD self-activation process., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)