The single-electron shift as a basis of organic reactivity

The configuration mixing (CM) model is applied to the building of a simple reaction profile for nucleophilic addition to a carbonyl group. The analysis leads us to conclude that essentially all the so-called polar reaction pathways in organic chemistry are single-electron shift processes and intimately related to the class of electron transfer (ET) reactions. The implication of this finding to a variety of organic reactions, including oxidation-reduction of the NADH/NAD+ coenzyme couple, is discussed.