Chapter 5: Electrochemistry under Flow Conditions

Organic electrosynthesis is recognised as a green enabling methodology to perform reactions in an efficient and straightforward way. Electrons are used as the reagent to form anion and cation radical species from neutral organic molecules achieving oxidations and reductions by replacing toxic and dangerous reagents. Within this field, the use of microreactors in continuous flow is also concurrent with electrochemistry because of its convenient advantages over batch, such as: (i) low loading or no supporting electrolyte at all, due to the small distance between electrodes, providing significant advantages in downstream processing; (ii) high electrode surface-to-reactor volume ratio; (iii) short residence time; (iv) improved mixing effect. In this chapter the most relevant electrochemical flow reactors and electrochemical transformations performed in continuous flow are presented and discussed.