Advances in Electrochemical Oxidation of Olefins to Epoxides

Epoxides are important chemicals and used in multi-ple fields. The conventional thermal-catalytic produc-tion of epoxides consumes a large amount of energy and generates abundant carbon emissions. Therefore, sustainable manufacturing technologies are highly desired. Taking advantage of renewable electricity to drive electrochemical epoxidation reactions provides a novel approach to generating value-added products in the chemicals sector. This review describes the current progress of selective electrochemical oxida-tion of olefins to epoxides, which is categorized according to the different reaction mechanisms. The halide-mediated method is first discussed, followed by an overview of electrochemical epoxidations with H2O and O2-derived H2O2. Moreover, the existing problems in this fast-growing field and future devel-oping directions are pointed out. This review hopes to provide inspiration for the design of electrocatalysts, electrode materials, and electrolyzers for the electro-chemical production of epoxides in a sustainable manner.