Electrooxidation Kolbe reaction

Fig. 12 Possible reaction pathways for the Kolbe electrooxidation of carboxylic acids in an ultrasonically emulsified medium.

Electrosynthesis has a respected tradition in organic chemistry, and the Kolbe electrooxidation of aqueous acetate solutions is one of the oldest known organic reactions.i Since then there have been reports at intervals until the development of high-dielectric organic solvents for routine use in the 1960s, which vastly increased the scope of systems that could be studied. Despite this, exploitation of organic electrosynthesis has lagged behind expectations, and it is an aim of workers in the field to redress this situation. 

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