Zhou Yue-Wen, Jia Ming-Yang, Yang Jun-Lei, Liu Qinlei, Cai Zhen-Feng
Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Sichuan University 29 Wangjiang Road Chengdu 610064 P. R. China
Chem Sci. 2025 Apr 4;16(19):8470-8477. doi: 10.1039/d5sc01466b. eCollection 2025 May 14.
The influence of electric fields (EFs) on chemical reactions has attracted significant interest due to their ability to modulate reaction rates, pathways, and selectivity. Although EFs have been experimentally demonstrated to facilitate various reactions, clear evidence for their role in covalent condensation has remained limited. Herein, we provide experimental evidence of electric-field-induced covalent condensation of boronic acids, utilizing the strong EFs at the air-liquid interface of microdroplets to induce the reaction. Microdroplet-based chemistry provides interfacial electric field intensities as high as 10 V m, offering a robust platform for the systematic investigation of boronate linkage formation and subsequent condensation of boronic acids. Our results confirm the role of EFs in facilitating the room-temperature condensation of boronic acids, providing direct insights into the electric-field-induced polymerization process and presenting an experimental approach for investigating these processes in solution.
电场（EFs）对化学反应的影响因其能够调节反应速率、反应途径和选择性而引起了广泛关注。尽管实验已证明电场能促进各种反应，但关于其在共价缩合反应中作用的明确证据仍然有限。在此，我们利用微滴气液界面处的强电场诱导反应，提供了电场诱导硼酸共价缩合的实验证据。基于微滴的化学方法可提供高达10 V/m的界面电场强度，为系统研究硼酸酯键的形成及随后硼酸的缩合反应提供了一个强大的平台。我们的结果证实了电场在促进硼酸室温缩合反应中的作用，为电场诱导的聚合过程提供了直接的见解，并提出了一种在溶液中研究这些过程的实验方法。
