Data from: Direct propylene epoxidation via water activation over Pd-Pt electrocatalysts

Direct electrochemical propylene epoxidation using water oxidation
intermediates presents a sustainable alternative to existing routes that
involve hazardous chlorine or peroxide reagents. Here we report an
oxidized palladium-platinum alloy catalyst (PdPtOx/C), which reaches a
Faradaic efficiency of 66±5% toward propylene epoxidation at 50 mA/cm2 at
ambient temperature and pressure. Embedding platinum into the palladium
oxide crystal structure stabilized oxidized platinum species, resulting in
improved catalyst performance. The reaction kinetics suggest that
epoxidation on PdPtOx/C proceeds through electrophilic attack by
metal-bound peroxo (OO*) intermediates. This work demonstrates an
effective strategy for selective electrochemical oxygen-atom transfer from
water, without mediators, for diverse oxygenation reactions.