Electrochemistry in Natural Product Synthesis

The multistep synthesis of natural products has historically served as a useful and infor- mative platform for showcasing the best, state-of-the-art synthetic methodologies and technologies. Over the last several decades, electrochemistry has proved itselfto be a use- ful tool for conducting redox reactions, primarily due to its unique ability to selectively apply any oxidizing or reducing potential to a sufficiently conductive reaction solu- tion.[1–6] In addition, electrochemical redox reactions are readily scaled and can be more sustainable than competing strategies based on conventional redox reagents. In this chap- ter, we summarize where electrochemistry has been used in the synthesis ofnatural prod- ucts. The chapter is organized by the reaction type ofthe electrochemical step. We do not include derivatives, analogues, or unnatural cores as part ofthe collection, nor are formal syntheses generally included. As new electrochemical methodologies are discovered and developed, we expect that more syntheses of natural products will include electrochemi- cal steps.