Epilogue

Abstract

In planning this book I decided early on that the Marcus theory should provide the theoretical framework, yet that the treatment should be more organic chemistry oriented than my 1982 review [1], In choosing this approach, I was strongly influenced by the propensity of organic chemists to describe quantitative data in terms of free energy relationships, of which the Marcus treatment constitutes a quadratic variety. The two variables that go into the Marcus equation, standard potential and reorganization energy, are so well connected to experimental reality that it seemed to compensate more than enough for the added complexity of a parabolic equation. The risk inherent in this approach resides in the relative difficulty of finding good values of standard potential and reorganization energy for organic redox couples, and I hope it has become clear that much work is needed before we have available table works of the same scope and quality as for inorganic redox couples.