The deuteration of organic molecules is considerably important in organic and medicinal chemistry. An electrochemical membrane reactor using proton-conducting graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets was developed to synthesize valuable deuterium-labeled products via an efficient hydrogen-to-deuterium (H/D) exchange under mild conditions at ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure. Deuterons (D+) formed by the anodic oxidation of heavy water (D2O) at the Pt/C anode permeate through the GO membrane to the Pt/C cathode, where organic molecules with functional groups (C≡C and C═O) are deuterated with adsorbed atomic D species. Deuteration occurs in outstanding yields with high levels of D incorporation. We also achieved the electrodeuteration of a drug molecule, ibuprofen, demonstrating the promising feasibility of the GO membrane reactor in the pharmaceutical industry.
Keywords: H/D exchange; Pt/C; deuteration; electrochemical membrane reactor; graphene oxide (GO).