NEW SYNTHETIC REACTIONS USING CHEMICALLY REACTIVE ELECTRODES

Some synthetic electroorganic reactions promoted by chemically reactiv e electrodes (CRE) have recently been exploited and CRE is one of the most attractive new techniques in electroorganic chemistry (EOC). Alth ough the definition of CRE is not always clear at present, the role of electrode in CRE method is quite different from that in the conventio nal EOC. Namely, the role of electrode in the conventional EOC is gene rally just a donor or acceptor of an electron and it is not involved i n the organic reaction as a reagent. On the other hand, in CRE method, some electrode materials made of chemically reactive materials such a s Mg, Al, and Zn are involved in the reaction as reagents and promote unique reactions which are not attained under the usual conditions of EOC. In this article, some synthetic reactions using CRE are described , and the main contents of the article are as follows: 1) Electroreuct ion of aliphatic ester and amide and related C-C bond forming reaction s, 2) Si-Si and Ge -Ge bonds formation reactions and their application to the synthesis of ploysilane and polygermane high polymers, 3) Coup ling of dienes and styrenes with aliphatic esters, 4) Reduction of aro matic compounds, 5) Generation of highly reactive metals (Electrogener ated metals).