Mechanoredox-Catalyzed Organic Synthesis with Piezoelectric Materials: Quo Vadis?

Abstract

Piezoelectric materials offer great promise due to their ability to generate electric fields under mechanical stress, producing surface charges that drive otherwise kinetically sluggish redox reactions. The strained surfaces of these materials provide a unique advantage in controlling product selectivity and enabling reaction pathways that are unattainable with conventional methods. This perspective highlights advancements, challenges, and the future potential of piezoelectric materials in synthetic organic chemistry, with a focus on designing materials optimized for piezocatalyzed organic synthesis. Piezocatalysis is industrially relevant because of its operational simplicity, enabling mild, gram scale synthesis with reusable catalysts, minimal solvent use, and air tolerant conditions. It involves redox cycles that facilitate one electron redox events without requiring light exposure or electrical bias. Despite significant progress, many fundamental aspects are yet to be fully understood. One example is the correlation between piezoelectricity and catalytic activity, which is not always linear, as demonstrated by the comparison between tetragonal and cubic BaTiO₃. While cubic BaTiO₃ is not piezoelectric, it shows excellent catalytic activity in certain redox reactions such as arylation, dicarbonylation, and cyclization under mechanochemical conditions comparable to that of piezoelectric tetragonal BaTiO₃. Considering all these aspects, this perspective aims to stimulate discussion to advance this promising field in the right direction.