Electrochemical C–N bond activation for deaminative reductive coupling of Katritzky salts

Abstract Electrosynthesis has received great attention among researchers in both academia and industry as an ideal technique to promote single electron reduction without the use of expensive catalysts. In this work, we report the electrochemical reduction of Katritzky salts to alkyl radicals by sacrificing the easily accessible metal anode. This catalyst and electrolyte free platform has broad applicability to single electron transfer chemistry, including fluoroalkenylation, alkynylation and thiolation. The deaminative functionalization is facilitated by the rapid molecular diffusion across microfluidic channels, demonstrating the practicality that outpaces the conventional electrochemistry setups.