Concurrent Formation of Carbon-Carbon Bonds and Functionalized Graphene by Oxidative Carbon-Hydrogen Coupling Reaction

Oxidative C-H coupling reactions were conducted using graphene oxide (GO) as an oxidant. GO showed high selectivity compared with commonly used oxidants such as (diacetoxyiodo) benzene and 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-p-benzoquinone. A mechanistic study revealed that radical species contributed to the reaction. After the oxidative coupling reaction, GO was reduced to form a material that shows electron conductivity and high specific capacitance. Therefore, this system could concurrently achieve two important reactions: C-C bond formation via C-H transformation and production of functionalized graphene.