Electrochemically promoted Friedel–Crafts acylation of aromatic compounds

Abstract Friedel–Crafts acylation is carried out with several aromatic substrates in the presence of an electrochemically active aluminium anode to minimize the inorganic reagents. Only a catalytic amount of AlCl 3 (5 mol %) is required to enable the anodic polarization of the aluminium electrode to promote continuous acylation. This process typically gave products in good yields (70–96%).