Oral Presentation Royal Australian Chemical Institute National Congress 2026

Electrified C-C and C-N Bond Formation from Abundant Feedstocks (136490)

Yifan Yuan 1 , Priya Mehta 1 , Anita Marfavi 1 , Nicholas Proschogo 1 , Haihui Joy Jiang 1
  1. The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia

Conventional C-C and C-N coupling reactions typically require specialized chemical activating agents and strict anhydrous or inert reaction conditions to proceed. Inspired by prebiotic chemistry, we explore how high-energy electrons, which act as a "green" activating agent can drive bond formation from abundantly available starting materials in aqueous solutions. By utilizing stable C1–C3 organic salts as feedstocks, we demonstrate the one-pot synthesis of amino acids and metabolic intermediates alongside sugar precursors. Parallel characterization of gas-phase products, liquid-phase organics, and reactive intermediates supports a high-flux interfacial recombination zone at the discharge boundary where short-lived species assemble into higher molecular complexity. This study creates new electro-organic synthetic pathways via radical reaction mechanisms, enabling C-C and C-N cross-coupling reactions from abundant feedstocks without traditional activating agents. This electrified scenario provides a testable route for prebiotic chemistry on the early Earth and other planetary bodies, while offering a sustainable methodology for building molecular complexity from simple, low-cost resources.

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