ABSTRACT

C3.2.1.1 What is chemical electron transfer? Chemical reactions involve the redistribution of electronic charge and changes in chemical bonding. Chemical bonds can reorient, disconnect, and reform during chemical reactions. These bonding changes are coupled, in turn, to changes in the structure (orientation, hydrogen bonding, polarization etc.) of the surrounding solvent. Bonding changes can be subtle or dramatic. The subject of this chapter is the special class of reactions in which an electron is displaced by distances much larger than the length of a single chemical bond; such reactions are known as ‘electron-transfer reactions’.