Unconventional approaches for organic electrosynthesis: Recent progress

Abstract

Modern organic electrochemistry enables a broad range of synthetic transformations in a convenient and “green” manner. However, the limitations, inherent in the established design of an electrochemical experiment – such as mass and heat transfer and the non-homogeneity of an electric field – may sometimes limit the effectivity of the method. The development of novel unconventional approaches to conduct electrochemical experiments may help to overcome these problems by introducing significant modifications to the traditional experimental design. In this review, the most notable emerging fields in organic electrochemistry are briefly surveyed – microflow electrosynthesis, alternating current electrolysis, and bipolar electrochemistry – with a particular emphasis on recent synthetic progress using these methods.