Synthesis of High Value-Added Chemicals Via Electrocatalytic C-N Coupling Involving CO2 and Nitrogen-Containing Small Molecules

With the depletion of fossil energy sources, the growing problem of environmental pollution and the increasing emission of CO2, the research direction of converting the emitted CO2 into valuable chemicals using chemical approaches has attracted strong interest. In recent years, a great deal of research has been conducted to select appropriate strategies to realize the conversion and utilization of CO2. Among them, electrosynthesis is one of the commonly used strategy for the preparation of high value-added chemicals, which has obvious advantages such as simple equipment and environmental friendliness. In this review, we focus on the progress of research on the electrocatalytic C-N coupling involving CO2 and nitrogen-containing small molecules to various nitrogen-containing compounds. We start the review with a discussion of the fundamentals of C-N coupling reactions. Next, we discuss research advances in the synthesis of nitrogen-containing chemicals (e. g., urea, amines, amides, amino acids, oximes, etc.) by C-N coupling reaction, using CO2 and nitrogen-containing small molecules (e. g., NH3, N-2, NO2-, and NO3-, etc.) as feedstocks. Finally, the current challenges and future opportunities in the field are presented. The goal of this review is to provide a state-of-the-art overview of electrochemical C-N coupled systems in order to advance their progress in practical applications.