Electro-Oxidative Platform for Nucleophilic α-Functionalization of Ketones

The significance of α-functionalization of carbonyl compounds arises from its frequent use in synthetic organic chemistry. Consequently, there is a substantial and constant demand for the creation of strategies that facilitate the efficient execution of such valuable transformation. In this context, herein is presented a universal electrochemical oxidative platform for the α-derivatization of ketones with nucleophiles, employing an umpolung reactivity. This approach has been successfully employed in three distinct transformations involving C-C and C-X bond formation via straightforward nucleophilic substitution or cycloaddition reaction pathways. Furthermore, the implementation of this methodology in flow using a commercially available reactor demonstrated its inherent scalability.