Electrochemistry is a powerful tool for initiating new umpolung reactions. In this paper, two examples are provided. One demonstrates the use of electrochemistry for reversing the polarity of known functional groups and triggering carbon-carbon bond formation. The second demonstrates the use of electrochemistry for reversing the polarity of a chemical reagent, a technique that allows for spatially locating synthetic transformations on addressable chips.
electron transfer - umpolung - cyclizations - site-selective reactions - Heck reactions