For the cathodic reduction of organic starting materials heavy metals, e.g. lead play an utmost role because of the high over-potential for the hydrogen evolution in protic media. Unfortunately, cathodic corrosion of lead electrodes represents a severe challenge since the product might be contaminated with the toxic heavy metal. The presentation will outline two recent strategies for stabilizing the lead cathodes: 1) leaded bronzes as powerful alternative to lead cathodes, and 2) cationic coverage of cathodes to enhance electro-reduction and avoiding cathodic corrosion. These approaches have successfully employed for the preparation of pharmaceutically relevant compounds and chemical intermediates. In addition, the scalability will be demonstrated as well.