Abstract: CO2 was elctrochemically activated by the Ni(bpy)3Cl2 catalyst and reacted with aniline and iodoethane to ethyl carbanilate under mild conditions (p(CO2)=0.1 MPa, 20 ℃). The CO2 activation mechanism and the synthesis reaction mechanism were proposed. The electroreductive potential of CO2 was moved from-2.1V to-1.6V owing to the Ni(bpy)3Cl2 catalyst in DMF solution, indicating that the reaction condition was effectively improved. The catalyst showed a good effect on the CO2 activation, and the selectivity for ethyl carbanilate was 100%. The effects of the catalyst, the electrolytic potentials, the nature of the working electrode, the temperature, the supporting electrolytes, and the passed charge amount per mole of aniline supplied to the electrode on the yield of ethyl carbanilate were studied. Under the optimized electrolytic conditions, the maximal yield of ethyl carbanilate was 60.8%.

Key words: carbon dioxide, tri(2, 2′-bipyridyl)nickel(Ⅱ) chloride, electrocatalysis, iodoethane, aniline, ethyl carbanilate