Reduction reactions of organic compounds

The electron transfers in the oxidation-reduction reactions of organic compounds are not fundamentally different from those of inorganic species. In Chapter 7 we considered the oxidation of a reducing sugar (an aldehyde or ketone) by cupric ion (see Fig. 7-10a) ... 

The scheme that follows Eq. 15 provides a useful guide to the oxidation-reduction reactions of organic compounds. Each of the arrows in this figure involves a two-electron oxidation of a carbon atom along the path toward carbon dioxide. A line is drawn through the first arrow because it is impossible to achieve this transformation in a single step. 

The plenary lectures at the 14th I.C.C.C. Meeting at Toronto have been published, as have the papers presented at the Bressanone Conference. Several other useful reviews of reactions involving metal ions have been published. The oxidation-reduction of the cobalt centre in vitamin Big has been discussed and recent developments in the bioinorganic chemistry of this complex have also been described. -Electron-transfer catalysts involving metalloenzyme systems have also been reviewed by Williams. The role of transition metals in homogeneous catalysis has been described and homo-lytic oxidation and reduction reactions of organic compounds by metallic ions have been reviewed. ... 

---