Activating a chemical reaction by ‘flipping a switch’
By 
Zahra Khan2023-10-27T13:30:00
A low-cost microfluidic reactor could cut the environmental footprint of synthesis by directing electrons via an external electric field
‘You can consider every chemical reaction as a movement of charge from one place to another…it’s always electrons moving,’ says Stefan Matile, whose work with UK chemists has realised a two-decades-old theory that an oriented external electric field can accelerate and direct electrons during a molecular transformation. The research offers a simple, environmentally friendly and cheap method for multistep synthesis with a high level of external control.