by Jonathan Kennedy-Ellis
Redox chemistry is ubiquitous throughout organic chemistry since control of the oxidation state of carbon and heteroatom within chemical structures is vital to the construction of both simple and complex organic compounds. Aside from elegant reactions where the oxidant or reductant are directly incorporated into the final product, reactions often require stoichiometric amounts of external oxidant and reductant, reducing the atom economy, increasing the cost, and the environmental impact of the process. While there are proposed solutions utilizing molecular oxygen as a “green” oxidant, this introduces new concerns such as the safety of oxygenated environments and organic solvents, or the stability of intermediates in oxygen.1,2 Currently there aren’t similarly low environmental impact reducing agents available.
Electrochemistry offers the potential to eliminate both stoichiometric chemical oxidant or reductant. By utilizing electrons directly as the oxidant or reductant, we can perform these reactions in an easily controlled manner, potentially offering fewer side-reactions.