Advances in Iron-Catalyzed Electrochemical Transformations

doi:10.6023/cjoc202602024

Abstract

In recent years, organic electrochemistry has developed rapidly due to its mild conditions, environmental friendliness and high efficiency. Meanwhile, iron catalysts have effectively compensated for the high cost and poor sustainability of traditional noble-metal catalysts due to their low price, abundant reserves, and tunable of their valence and spin states. The development of iron-catalyzed electrochemical transformations has provided green, efficient, and sustainable synthetic tools for modern organic synthesis. Presently, such strategies have been widely applied in various reaction systems including oxidation, reduction, and coupling reactions. This review summarizes the latest advances in this field, focusing on three categories of iron-catalyzed electrochemical reactions: oxidative, reductive, and redox-paired transformations. The corresponding catalytic mechanisms and representative reactions are discussed, and an outlook on iron-catalyzed electrochemical transformations is also provided.

Key words: iron catalysis, organic electrochemistry, redox reaction

Cite this article

Linjing Yang, Zhiwei Zhao, Anzai Shi, Guoqing Yang, Youai Qiu. Advances in Iron-Catalyzed Electrochemical Transformations[J]. Chinese Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2026, 46(7): 2511-2528.

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Fig. & Tab. 16

Figure 1. Iron-catalyzed electrochemical transformations

Figure 2. Distinct reaction pathways of iron at the anode and cathode

Scheme 1. Electrochemical cyclopropanation of unactivated alkenes with methylene compounds

Scheme 2. Electrochemical C—H/N—H functionalization for the synthesis of highly functionalized (aza) indoles

Scheme 3. Electrochemical C—H oxygenation and alcohol dehydrogenation involving Fe-oxo species using water as the oxygen source

Scheme 4. Electrochemical desaturative β-acylation of cyclic N-aryl amines

Scheme 5. Photoelectrochemically driven iron-catalysed C(sp3)—H borylation of alkanes

Scheme 6. Iron-catalyzed polymer depolymerization reaction

Scheme 7. Iron-catalyzed electrophotochemical α-functionalization of a silylcyclobutanol

Scheme 8. Photoelectrochemical iron(III) catalysized C—H fluoroalkylations

Scheme 9. Alkynyl-germanium architectures through electrochemical low-valent iron-catalyzed conjunctive coupling

Scheme 10. Fe-electrocatalytic deoxygenative Giese reaction

Scheme 11. Carbene reactivity directly from aldehydes via low-valent iron electrocatalysis

Scheme 12. Paired oxidative and reductive catalysis: breaking the potential barrier of electrochemical C(sp3)—H alkenylation

Scheme 13. Dual metal electrocatalysis for difluoromethylation of aryl halides

Scheme 14. Photoelectrocatalytic bimetallic paired electrolysis for arylations of alcohols

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