Bringing Green Organic Electrochemistry to Undergraduates: A Designed Comparison Organic Experiment of Bromination

The demand for sustainable synthetic methods in modern industry has been increasing rapidly due to the requirements of environmental protection and energy conservation, which has brought organic electrochemical synthesis to the forefront nowadays. Here, a two-part laboratory experiment has been designed to train undergraduates in comprehending and learning related concepts and operations of organic electrochemistry. First, students are required to perform a traditional bromination reaction of bisphenol A (BPA). In the second part, students need to achieve bromination of BPA in electrochemical conditions. Since tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) is the common product of the two methods above, students are able to assess sustainability from multiple dimensions via 12 principles of Green Chemistry, which provides an excellent opportunity for undergraduates to focus on variables and sensitivities in experimental operations.