We hope the collective efforts of the authors of these articles will serve to broaden the foundation that supports future growth in electrochemistry and the influx of new ideas that growth brings. We therefore are excited to present in this Special Issue, Electrochemistry in Synthetic Organic Chemistry, some of the leading efforts in this burgeoning field. It is the influx of many talented scientists with their own identities, backgrounds, and insights that is driving the modern growth of organic electrochemistry, defining both new frontiers for discovery made possible by electrochemical methods and the potential for broad scientific impact of new discoveries. Individuals who move into an area of science with their curiosity, drive, and ideas can push that endeavor in ways that are frequently unimaginable to the scientists who made the initial discoveries in the area and then carefully built upon those discoveries to lay a foundation for the future. One of us was recently asked, “What is the most important development in organic electrochemistry over the past two decades?” The answer was easy, “People”. Renewed interest in the past decade on an unprecedented scale is leading to a boom in new synthetic methodologies, mechanistic understandings, and instruments. Despite the long history of research, the perceived advantages in sustainability and tunability, and the success with the industrial production of several fine chemicals, organic electrochemistry has yet to reach mainstream status in synthetic applications. Interest in the electrochemical transformations of organic compounds dates back to the 1840s, when Kolbe investigated the electrochemical decarboxylation of carboxylic acids.
This article is part of the Electrochemistry in Synthetic Organic Chemistry special issue.