Perchloroethylene (PCE) is a chlorinated solvent widely used in industrial processes such as dry cleaning and metal degreasing. Owing to its high stability and resistance to degradation, PCE persists in the environment, raising concerns about its potential mutagenicity and carcinogenicity. In response, its production and use have been progressively restricted by environmental regulations. Nevertheless, PCE is still generated in various industrial processes. Accordingly, chemical upcycling technologies that convert PCE into valuable organic molecules represent a sustainable approach for reducing its environmental impact. In this study, Ohno, Taniguchi, Fukuhara, Asahara’s group developed a method for converting PCE into valuable trichloroacetamides using visible-light-activated chlorine dioxide in the presence of amines. Furthermore, the resulting trichloroacetamides can be directly transformed in a one-pot manner into carbamate, urea, and heterocyclic compounds, which are intermediates for pharmaceutical and agrochemical synthesis.

This result was published in the RSC journal ‘‘Chemical Communications’’ on March 19, 2026 and accepted as Front Cover.

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI; the NEDO; and the Masuyakinen basic research foundation.
雑誌名：Chemical Communications
論文名：Visible-Light-Induced Upcycling of Perchloroethylene into Trichloroacetamides Using Chlorine Dioxide
著者： Shohei Ohno, Genta Taniguchi, Minami Fukuhara, Yuki Itabashi, Tsuyoshi Inoue, Kei Ohkubo, and Haruyasu Asahara