Organoelemental compounds

The organoelemental compounds such as group 1, 2, 13, and 14 organoelemental compounds have played a major role in organic synthesis and enjoy widespread use in both laboratories and industry. Some organoelemental compounds such as organosilicon compounds are also utilized as materials. Some organoelemental compounds, such as group 1 and 2 organoelemental compounds, are also called organometallic compounds. However, in this chapter, we call them organoelemental compounds. The electrochemistry of other organometallic compounds, especially transition metal compounds, is discussed in Chapter 36. This chapter will focus on the electrochemical synthesis and reactions of organic compounds containing main group elements. The electrochemistry of organoelemental compounds has a long history, and enormous advances have been made in the study of this field so far. The scope of this subject is, therefore, too extensive to be covered completely in a single chapter. There are excellent review articles on general electrochemistry of organoelemental compounds [1-9] and specific topics [10-12] in this field. Thus, the approach here is to present those fundamental aspects of electrochemical synthesis and reactions of organoelemental compounds with special emphasis on recent developments. This chapter is not an exhaustive compilation of all known reactions, but rather sampling of sufficient variety to illustrate the fascinating chemistry of electrochemical synthesis and reactions of organoelemental compounds.