Making chemistry less precious: Much of modern chemistry relies on catalysis by precious metals such as platinum, palladium, and rhodium. By contrast, more abundant metals such as iron and copper suffice in biochemistry. Bullock et al. review the opportunities presented from the study of enzymes to shift the balance in synthetic catalysts further toward the use of these abundant metals. Whether by modifying the enzymes themselves or by designing ligand and support architectures that take advantage of the cheaper metals' characteristic electron transfer properties, recent work points toward substantial progress. Science , this issue p. eabc3183

Monitoring reactive intermediates can provide vital information in the study of synthetic reaction mechanisms, enabling the design of new catalysts and methods. Many synthetic transformations are centred on the alteration of oxidation states, but these redox processes frequently pass through intermediates with short life-times, making their study challenging. A variety of electroanalytical tools can be utilised to investigate these redox-active intermediates: from voltammetry to in situ spectroelectrochemistry and scanning electrochemical microscopy. This perspective provides an overview of these tools, with examples of both electrochemically-initiated processes and monitoring redox-active intermediates formed chemically in solution. The article is designed to introduce synthetic organic and organometallic chemists to electroanalytical techniques and their use in probing key mechanistic questions.