Selectivity by the Clock

Controlling reaction selectivity is a central challenge in chemistry. Conventional strategies rely on designing chemical reagents or catalysts that alter the kinetics of competing pathways to dictate the outcome. In this talk, I will present an alternative approach: using time as a control parameter. Specifically, we harness alternating current electrolysis to temporally modulate the redox environment and direct selectivity in electroorganic synthesis. By tuning the frequency, key reaction steps can be synchronized such that the product distribution shifts from thermodynamic to kinetic control. This temporal strategy is broadly compatible with both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. Importantly, the optimal frequency is dictated by the intrinsic timescale of the selectivity-determining step, offering a generalizable framework for time-resolved control of chemical reactivity.