In collaboration with his colleagues, Siegfried R. Waldvogel, Director of the MPI CEC and leader of the electrosynthesis department, proudly presented their pioneering research titled "Electrochemical Synthesis of Pyrazolines and Pyrazoles via [3+2] Dipolar Cycloaddition" in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition on behalf of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker. Within just one year, this paper gained notable traction, becoming one of the most downloaded* papers and securing its position in the top 10 percent of published works.

About the paper

Pyrazolines and pyrazoles are common five-membered heterocycles and represent important motifs of pharmaceutical agents and agrochemicals. With their publication Waldvogel et al. established the first electrochemical approach for the direct synthesis of these target compounds from easily accessible hydrazones and dipolarophiles. The use of harmful chlorination regents such as NCS od phosgene can be replaced by electric current. The application of a biphasic system (aqueous/organic) even allows for the conversion of highly sensitive alkenes, wherein inexpensive sodium iodide is employed in a dual role as supporting electrolyte and mediator. This method can be easily scaled up to decagram range and is underlined by the synthesis of a commercial herbicide safener in good yields in this way.

* among work published in an issue between 1 January 2022 – 31 December 2022.