If you attach the TEMPO catalyst to an electrode, it can replace the role of platinum in the oxidation of methanol to formaldehyde, as researchers from Amsterdam show in ChemSusChem.

The chemical industry is increasingly relying on electrification for the energy transition. Or at least it wants to. This is because not all thermocatalytic processes are equally easy to convert to electrocatalytic variants. One example is the oxidation of methanol to formaldehyde. If you want to do this electrochemically, you need expensive platinum or silver catalysts. Or do you? Pim Broersen, Joost Koning, Gadi Rothenberg and Amanda Garcia from the University of Amsterdam have developed an organic catalyst with higher efficiency and excellent selectivity.