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Electrochemical radical-polar crossover: a radical approach to polar chemistry

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Abstract

Radical-polar crossover (RPC) reaction bridges the gap between one- and two-electron reactivities, thus providing an ideal solution to overcome the limitations of both radical and polar chemistry. In this manifold, organic electrochemistry provides a uniquely facile strategy to access a diverse array of radical intermediates, thus broadening the chemical space of the RPC concept. This review highlights the synthetic advances in the field of electrochemical RPC reactions since 2020, with an emphasis on the substrate scope, reaction limitation and mechanistic aspect. The related RPC reactions are categorized as net-oxidative, net-reductive, or redox neutral transformations.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22171015, 22271009), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (2222003) and the Beijing Municipal Education Committee Project (KZ202110005003, KM202110005006).

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Correspondence to Kun Xu or Chengchu Zeng.

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Tan, Z., Zhang, H., Xu, K. et al. Electrochemical radical-polar crossover: a radical approach to polar chemistry. Sci. China Chem. 67, 450–470 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-023-1735-x

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