Organic-electrical reduction of carbon–carbon double bonds

Abstract

Organic electrochemical synthesis has become a practical and environmentally friendly synthesis method and is widely used in oxidation, reduction, and redox-neutral reactions. By precisely controlling the current or potential, it is possible to achieve some challenging chemical transformations under mild reaction conditions. Owing to increasingly severe energy and environmental issues, electrochemical synthesis has become the focus of research in recent years. However, due to the lag in research on reduction reactions compared to oxidation reactions in organic electrosynthesis, the main focus of this review is on cathodic reduction reactions in organic electrosynthesis. We start with two types of reactions that occur on carbon–carbon double bonds, reductive hydrogenation (deuteration) and reductive coupling, to introduce the fascinating intersection of organic synthesis and electrochemistry. By reviewing the latest developments, readers can gain an in-depth understanding of cathodic reduction reactions in organic electrosynthesis.