Scalable Electrochemical Dehydrogenative Lactonization of C(sp2/sp3)–H Bonds

• DOI: 10.1021/acs.orglett.7b03617
• Publication Date: 2017-12-07T16:53:14Z
• Authors: Sheng Zhang; Lijun Li; Huiqiao Wang; Qian Li; Wenmin Liu; Kun Xu; Chengchu Zeng
• Keywords: 01 natural sciences; 0104 chemical sciences

A practical, electrochemical method is developed for the direct dehydrogenative lactonization of C(sp2/sp3)-H bonds under external oxidant- and metal-free conditions, delivering diverse lactones, including coumarin derivatives with excellent regioselectivity. The scalable nature of this newly developed electrochemical process was demonstrated on a 40 g scale following an operationally simple protocol. The remote lactonization of C(sp3)-H bonds would constitute an important synthetic advance toward electrochemical C-O bond formation.