Electrosynthesis

Electrosynthesis, or electrochemical synthesis, is a synthesis technique that uses electrical energy to drive chemical reactions to form new compounds. There are many advantages of electrochemistry including novel reactivity, high functional group tolerance, chemoselectivity, and the ability to synthesize highly functionalized or complex compounds that may be difficult to produce by other means. Electro-organic synthesis can generate reactive intermediates that are unstable or difficult to isolate, and then use these intermediates to produce more complex molecules through further electrochemical reactions. In addition, the use of electricity replaces toxic and costly chemicals allowing the synthesis to be completed more efficiently, cleaner, and cheaper following the principles of green chemistry.