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Organic chemistry

Reactions triggered electrically

Nature volume 531, pages 38–39 (2016)Cite this article

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Single-molecule experiments have revealed that chemical reactions can be controlled using electric fields — and that the reaction rate is sensitive to both the direction and the strength of the applied field. See Letter p.88

Chemical reactions turn the elements in the periodic table into substances that make up everything we use, ingest and breathe, and into the molecules in our bodies. Developing new and more-efficient ways to control reactions has therefore been a constant quest for chemists. On page 88 of this issue, Aragonès et al.1 describe a new way to control chemical reactions. They report that a classic organic transformation called the Diels–Alder reaction2 can be accelerated using an electric field, and that the reaction rate sensitively depends not only on the strength of the field, but also on its polarity.

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Figure 1: A chemical reaction controlled by an electric field.

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Limin Xiang and N. J. Tao are at the Center for Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA.,

    Limin Xiang & N. J. Tao

  2. N.J.T. is also at the State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, Nanjing University, China, and at the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, Arizona State University.,

    N. J. Tao

Authors
  1. Limin Xiang
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  2. N. J. Tao
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Correspondence to N. J. Tao.

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Xiang, L., Tao, N. Reactions triggered electrically. Nature 531, 38–39 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/531038a

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