Farrah L. Bhatti

Exerting control over the acyloin reaction

A synthetic method for conducting the acyloin reaction using electron transfer in solution is reported. By linking two esters via their oxygen atoms, it was possible to perform crossed acyloin reactions between two different ester functionalities and display a high degree of preference for an intramolecular coupling process.

Cryovoltammetrically probing functional group reductive cleavage: alkyl–sulfur versus aryl–sulfur bond cleavage in an alkyl naphthyl thioether under single electron-transfer is temperature switchable

A series of single electron-transfer (SET) reactions on a naphthyl thioether have shown that the reductive cleavage mechanism changes at low temperatures and this selectivity is proved using an electrochemical analysis that mimics the SET reaction conditions.