Electro-inductive effect: Electrodes as functional groups with tunable electronic properties

A potential method to tune reactivity In organic chemistry, reaction rates are often sensitive to substituents that either donate or withdraw electron density from a reactive carbon center. Heo et al. now report that when reactants are tethered to an electrode, the polarization effect of an applied potential can exert an analogous influence, essentially acting as a tunable functional group. The authors demonstrate rate modulations in ester hydrolysis and arene cross-coupling, as well as a two-step acid-to-amide conversion that benefits from inversion of the polarization midway through the reaction. Science , this issue p. 214