Oriented Electric Fields as Future Smart Reagents in Chemistry

Sason Shaik
Institute of Chemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus@Givat Ram, Jerusalem, 9190401 Israel

Jeudi 16 Juin 2022, 11h00
Salle 101, Tour 32, Couloir 32-42, 1er étage, Campus Pierre et Marie Curie
ZOOM : https://cnrs.zoom.us/j/98434237343?pwd=dlJ1aE5iYkFYeUY5dmhaTG9rZkdUdz09
ID de réunion : 984 3423 7343
Code secret : Qqg70n

During the 1st of my Ph.D. in the early 1970s, I attended a course in which our teacher described catalysis of reactions by high concentrations (5-6 M) of LiClO4 in ether [1,2]. Ever since then, I planned to study the effect of external electric fields on chemical reactivity. The stimulation bore fruits in the late 1990s onwards...
As such, my talk will discuss the potential of using oriented-external-electric-fields (OEEFs) as effectors of chemical change [1,2]. An OEEF along the direction of electron reorganization from reactants to products will catalyze nonpolar reactions, while OEEF orientations off this "reaction axis" will control selectivity patterns and chiral discrimination [1-3]. The field's direction will similarly affect bonds, molecular structures and aggregation [1-3].
Covered topics will involve control of chemical-reaction rates, regioselectivity, exo/endo selectivity, spin-state selectivity, mechanistic selection, chiral discrimination, and OEEFs as tweezers and catalysts. We postulate that as experimental techniques mature, chemical syntheses may become an exercise in zapping oriented molecules with OEEFs! For different ways of harnessing electric fields see [3].

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References :
[1] S. Shaik, D. Mandal, and R. Ramanan, Nature Chem. 2016,8, 1091.
[2] S. Shaik, D. Danovich, J. Joy, Z. Wang, and T. Stuyver, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020,142, 12551.
[3] Chapter 2 in S. Shaik, and T. Stuyver, Eds. "Electric Fields and Structure-Reactivity Aspects: New Horizons in Chemistry" The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2021, pp. 1-421. https://doi.org/10.1039/9781839163043.