Photoelectrochemical upcycling of PVC plastic waste for the synthesis of chlorinated quinolinone derivatives†

Herein, an environmentally friendly methodology has been established for the photoelectrochemical chlorination of C(sp²)–H bonds in quinolinone derivatives using PVC plastic waste as the chlorine source. This synthetic process avoids the use of catalysts and chemical oxidants, giving a green synthetic method to access valuable quinolinone derivatives with acceptable yields. Significantly, employing photoelectrochemical upcycling of PVC to produce chlorinated products represents a sustainable approach with beneficial environmental implications. Moreover, this method has been effectively applied in the synthesis of the commercially available drug Palbociclib.