Electrical engineering

Engineering

Physical chemistry

Cell

Catalysis

Voltage

Electrode

Organic chemistry

Inorganic chemistry

Chemistry

Anhydrous

Chemoselectivity

Waveform

Alkali metal

Combinatorial chemistry

Polarity (international relations)

Alternating current

Solvent

Electrochemistry

Biochemistry

Journal of the American Chemical Society

Conventional chemical and even electrochemical Birch-type reductions suffer from a lack of chemoselectivity due to a reliance on alkali metals or harshly reducing conditions. This study reveals that a simpler avenue is available for such reductions by simply altering the waveform of current delivery, namely rapid alternating polarity (rAP). The developed method solves these issues, proceeding in a protic solvent, and can be easily scaled up without any metal additives or stringently anhydrous conditions.

Chemoselective (Hetero)Arene Electroreduction Enabled by Rapid Alternating Polarity