Mediator-Enabled Fe(I) Electrocatalysis Now Published in ACS Catalysis

Congrats to Zi, Ethan, and Bryan on the publication of their study harnessing low-valent Fe species in electrocatalysis using a redox mediator strategy!

We find that historically challenging electroreductive Fe catalysis can be unlocked for synthetic organic transformations using a cobaltocene redox mediator to avoid deleterious Fe-based redox. Through isolation of an electrogenerated Fe(I) species, proposed to be an on-path intermediate, we find that our tandem electrocatalytic manifold operates differently than canonical Fe(II)–H mechanisms in alkyne semi-hydrogenation.

For a link to the peer-reviewed work, see:

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acscatal.5c03611