Japan Development Organization study

Acknowledgements The author wishes to thank R. Craig for his critical reading of this manuscript The author s studies cited here were supported in part by a grant to E.K. from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), Japan. 

The authors wish to thank the New Energy Development Organization of Japan for their support of this study, project number 05A45002d. The technical support of Mr. T. Sampo and support of the members of the Laboratory for Flow Control, Hokkaido University, is also appreciated. Professor Yasunori Watanabe of the Civil Engineering Department, Hokkaido University contributed to the research work concerning the third UVP-DUO system his assistance in conducting this research is highly appreciated. 

Acknowledgment This study was partially supported by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan. 

Faraday, in 1834, was the first to encounter Kolbe-electrolysis, when he studied the electrolysis of an aqueous acetate solution [1], However, it was Kolbe, in 1849, who recognized the reaction and applied it to the synthesis of a number of hydrocarbons [2]. Thereby the name of the reaction originated. Later on Wurtz demonstrated that unsymmetrical coupling products could be prepared by coelectrolysis of two different alkanoates [3]. Difficulties in the coupling of dicarboxylic acids were overcome by Crum-Brown and Walker, when they electrolysed the half esters of the diacids instead [4]. This way a simple route to useful long chain l,n-dicarboxylic acids was developed. In some cases the Kolbe dimerization failed and alkenes, alcohols or esters became the main products. The formation of alcohols by anodic oxidation of carboxylates in water was called the Hofer-Moest reaction [5]. Further applications and limitations were afterwards foimd by Fichter [6]. Weedon extensively applied the Kolbe reaction to the synthesis of rare fatty acids and similar natural products [7]. Later on key features of the mechanism were worked out by Eberson [8] and Utley [9] from the point of view of organic chemists and by Conway [10] from the point of view of a physical chemist. In Germany [11], Russia [12], and Japan [13] Kolbe electrolysis of adipic halfesters has been scaled up to a technical process. 

Shoko Yamazaki was born in Osaka, Japan. She studied chemistry at Osaka University and received her Ph.D. in 1986 under the supervision of Prof. Ichiro Murata. From 1985, she was an assistant lecturer at Nara University of Education. She joined the group of Professor Barry M. Trost as a visiting researcher at Stanford University (USA) in 1987-88. She became an assistant professor at Nara University of Education in 1989 and since 2003, a full professor of Nara University of Education. Her current main research interests are the development of new organic synthetic reactions. 

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